Category Archives: Wildlife

Wild bison return to UK for first time in thousands of years

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The gentle giants released in Kent should transform a commercial pine forest into a vibrant natural woodland

Early on Monday morning, three gentle giants wandered out of a corral in the Kent countryside to become the first wild bison to roam in Britain for thousands of years.

The aim is for the animals’ natural behaviour to transform a dense commercial pine forest into a vibrant natural woodland. Their taste for bark will kill some trees and their bulk will open up trails, letting light spill on to the forest floor, while their love of rolling around in dust baths will create more open ground. All this should allow new plants, insects, lizards, birds and bats to thrive.

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Kigali summit to outline strategy for nature conservation in Africa

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First continent-wide meeting aims to set out plans to halt and reverse habitat and species loss in protected areas on land and sea

African leaders will gather in the Rwandan capital this week for the first continent-wide meeting to set out plans for the conservation of nature across Africa.

The IUCN Africa Protected Areas Congress (Apac) in Kigali will attract close to 3,000 delegates, including protected area directors from the continent’s 54 countries, youth leaders and Indigenous and community representatives, to discuss the role of protected areas in conserving nature, promoting sustainable development, and safeguarding the continent’s wildlife.

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Officials warned of ‘serious wildlife incidents’ at Queen’s Sandringham estate

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Exclusive: Dozens of laws protect Queen’s private estates from investigators – but documents reveal allegations of wildlife crime

On a pleasant autumn evening in 2007, a wildlife warden at the Dersingham Bog nature reserve in Norfolk took a friend to see two female hen harriers returning home to roost. But as dusk descended, they were startled by the sound of shotgun blasts.

After the first shot, they saw one of the rare birds of prey “immediately fold and drop out of sight”. About 30 seconds later they heard a second blast – and another harrier fell from the sky.

Sandringham has been investigated for wildlife and pesticides offences against legally protected birds of prey at least six times between 2005 and 2016.

As well as the two hen harriers shot in 2007, police and Natural England have investigated the deaths of a goshawk, a sparrowhawk, a red kite, a tawny owl and a marsh harrier at Sandringham estate and land it owns nearby, with only one prosecution.

In 2009, the estate was given an official warning about the mishandling and unlawful storage of highly toxic chemicals after the sparrowhawk was poisoned.

In 2016, Sandringham admitted it had destroyed the body of a goshawk found dead near Sandringham House before it could be examined by police, which meant no cause of death could be established.

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Big Butterfly Count in UK begins with eyes on declining numbers

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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.

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‘Extinct’ parrots make a flying comeback in Brazil

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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.

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Pheasant shoots scaled back across UK after bird flu import bans

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RSPB calls for greater regulation of industry to avoid putting native wildlife at risk

Pheasant shoots across the UK are being shut down or dramatically scaled back this year because of import bans on the birds after an outbreak of bird flu.

A huge number of the gamebirds shot in the country are imported from factory farms in Europe. Experts have said this practice should stop or be reduced because it risks spreading disease and has troubling implications for native nature and biodiversity.

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Wild species support half of world’s population, report finds

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Sustainability is key to survival of billions of people, says UN study, which notes income from wild species incentivises conservation

• Patrick Vallance: ‘We need to change if we’re to survive’

Wild plants, animals, fungi and algae support half of the world’s population but their future use is threatened by overexploitation, according to a new assessment by leading scientists.

From the 10,000 known wild species that humans harvest for food to the firewood that one in three people need for cooking, nature is key to the livelihoods and survival of billions of people in developed and developing countries, says a new UN report.

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More than 15m bees destroyed in NSW to contain deadly varroa mite parasite

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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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New Zealand to embark on world’s largest feral predator eradication

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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.

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Florida teen who faces losing leg after shark attack says: don’t fear the ocean

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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.”

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Two women killed in shark attacks in Egypt’s Red Sea

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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.

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Florida teen bitten by shark survives but faces losing her leg

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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.

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‘Talk with us, not for us’: fishing communities accuse UN of ignoring their voices

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Developing countries’ delegates at UN conference seek recognition of small fisheries’ role in protecting oceans and fighting hunger

Small-scale fishermen and women from coastal nations in the frontline of the “ocean emergency” have accused world leaders and other decision-makers at the UN oceans conference of ignoring their voices in favour of corporate interests.

More than half of the world’s fish caught for human consumption comes from small-scale fishing communities, yet their contribution to food security and ocean protection is not being sufficiently recognised, they say.

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New eradication zone established and 600 hives destroyed as NSW bee industry battles varroa mite

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Producers and apiarists remain concerned about future almond harvest and potential for mites to carry deformed wing virus

As many as 600 beehives and at least six million bees have been destroyed and another eradication zone has been established in New South Wales following the deadly varroa mite outbreak.

Concerns remained around almond harvest as well as the threat of the mites having a virus of their own, compounding problems for the state’s bees after the deadly parasite was discovered last week at hives near the Port of Newcastle.

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Cop15: lack of political leadership leaves crucial nature summit ‘in peril’, warn NGOs

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Nairobi biodiversity talks end in stalemate, prompting open letter to world leaders calling for action before Montreal conference

UN biodiversity negotiations have reached crisis point due to a lack of engagement from governments, leading NGOs have warned, three years after experts revealed that Earth’s life-support systems are collapsing.

Last week, countries met in Nairobi for an extra round of talks on an agreement to halt the human-driven destruction of the natural world, with the final targets set to be agreed at Cop15 in Montreal. Governments have never met a target they have set for themselves on halting the destruction of nature despite scientists warning in 2019 that one million species face extinction, and that nature is declining at rates unprecedented in human history.

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Orange roughy: campaigners call for limit to trawling of species after breeding age of 73 revealed

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Australian fisheries management says there are regional differences and new data only applies to population in New Zealand

Ocean campaigners say that a New Zealand fishing fleet that trawls for orange roughy in waters off Tasmania should be “sent back” in light of new data about the vulnerable species.

Orange roughy is an endangered deep-sea species which, under Australia’s environmental laws, can still be fished in approved fisheries.

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Red kite chicks sent from England to Spain to boost ailing numbers

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Conservationists who re-established the raptors in the UK with birds from Spain are now returning the favour

When red kites were reintroduced in England more than 30 years ago, young birds were brought over from thriving populations in Spain. Now the carrion-feeding raptor is doing so well that English chicks – with distant Spanish ancestry – are being flown back to Spain to boost ailing numbers there.

Fed on culled grey squirrels and meticulously checked by vets, 15 chicks collected from nests in Northamptonshire are this week travelling to southern Spain where they will be held in special aviaries in the countryside until they are mature enough to be set free.

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Appetite for frogs’ legs in France and Belgium ‘driving species to extinction’

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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.

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Portly python: heaviest-ever snake captured in Florida tips scales at 215lbs

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Biologists used male ‘scout’ snakes to find the female Burmese which was nearly 18ft long and had 122 developing eggs

A team of biologists recently hauled in the heaviest Burmese python ever captured in Florida, officials said. The discovery was part of the state’s python removal program.

The female python weighed in at 215 pounds (98 kg), was nearly 18ft long (5 metres) and had 122 developing eggs, the Conservancy of Southwest Florida said in a news release.

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EU plan to halve use of pesticides in ‘milestone’ legislation to restore ecosystems

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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.

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