Category Archives: Wildlife

The squit and the whale: can artificial faeces revive the ocean ecosystem?

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A scientific experiment hopes to restore vital nutrients to the ocean by using fake excrement that would once have been produced by the endangered mammal

In a few weeks an international group of scientists will launch an unusual marine research project. They will dust the surface of the Indian Ocean with artificial whale faeces.

The aim of this excremental experiment is straightforward. It is to determine if it is possible to reboot marine ecosystems that have been starved of nutrients and in the process restore dwindling fish populations. It is also hoped the project will help in the battle against the climate crisis.

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Yellowstone at 150: a journey into the heart of America’s first national park – in pictures

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Steven Fuller has been the ‘winterkeeper’ at Yellowstone for 49 years. In that time, he has captured the breathtaking natural phenomena and the wildlife that exist there through all the seasons

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US hunter fined after trophy photo proves he shot sheep in Canada

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Donald Lee claimed he killed a Fannin bighorn sheep in Alaska but an online sleuth and Yukon conservation officers proved he didn’t

When an Alaskan hunter ventured out into the rugged mountains and dropped his target with a single rifle shot, it seemed like the perfect crime.

The only witness lay dead on the rocky landscape.

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Endangered sharks found in cat and dog food, DNA study shows

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Description of ingredient as ‘ocean fish’ means owners are unwittingly giving their pets vulnerable species for dinner

Pet food containing endangered sharks is being fed to cats and dogs by unwitting owners, a study has revealed.

Scientists found that several brands contained endangered species but listed only vague ingredients such as “ocean fish”, meaning that consumers are often oblivious.

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European countries dominate half of Asian shark fin trade, report reveals

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Despite nearly a third of shark species nearing extinction, Spain supplied 51,000 tonnes of shark fins from 2003-20, says IFAW

European countries are selling so many shark fins to Asia that they dominate nearly half the trade, a study has found.

Shark populations continue to decline, driven by the global shark fin trade. Last year, scientists found a third of sharks and ray species have been overfished to near-extinction, jeopardising the health of entire ocean ecosystems and food security for many countries.

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‘Showing respect’: revival of Japanese technique that promises fish a better way to die

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Fishermen in Mexico are using the ike jime method, which aims to reduce fish trauma, to improve the quality of catches and help sustainability

Every morning, hundreds of small white fishing boats dot the dark blue waters of Veracruz’s coastline on the Gulf of Mexico. Most of the crews, many of whose families have been fishing for generations, employ traditional methods – using nets to catch large numbers of fish, which then slowly asphyxiate once out of the water.

But a few of the fishermen are doing something different, using a technique that emerged in Japan several centuries ago. It is a method for slaughtering fish that emulates a process called ike jime, which is based on a simple scientific principle: the less trauma the fish experiences, the longer the flesh remains fresh.

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Yellowstone at 150: busier yet wilder than ever, says park’s ‘winterkeeper’

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From the return of wildlife to the pressures of tourism and the climate crisis, Steven Fuller has seen it all in his nearly 50 years watching over America’s oldest national park

• Read more: Native Americans are at the heart of Yellowstone. After 150 years, they are finally being heard

As “winterkeeper” at Yellowstone national park, Steven Fuller lives in a rustic cedar-shingled cottage, built in 1910, set on a hill a short walk from the majestic Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

On balmier days, with the windows open, he can hear the roar of the 308ft Lower Falls tumbling into the chasm. In autumn, he is treated to the sound of bugling bull elk in rut or, in the middle of night, the howls of wolves.

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Very hungry bear ‘Hank the Tank’ is in fact three bears, DNA shows

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Officials say a trio of oversized bears is responsible for home invasions that had been blamed on a 500lb black bear dubbed Hank the Tank

DNA evidence has shown that the 500-pound black bear the public had nicknamed Hank the Tank is, in fact, at least three not-so-little bears who have damaged more than 30 properties around Lake Tahoe in recent months.

The Department of Fish and Wildlife on Thursday said it would soon begin trapping bears in the South Lake Tahoe area to tag the animals and collect evidence for genetic analysis. The bears will be released in a “suitable habitat” and the agency said no trapped animals will be euthanised as part of the project.

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Plastic summit could be most important green deal since Paris accords, says UN

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World leaders to gather in Nairobi next week to discuss first global treaty to combat plastic waste

World leaders will come together online and in Nairobi, Kenya, next week, in what is described as a “critical moment” in progress towards the first ever global treaty to combat plastic waste. Inger Andersen, director of the UN Environment Programme, said an agreement at the UN environment assembly could be the most important multilateral pact since the Paris climate accord in 2015.

Public disgust and impatience over the growing mountain of plastic waste has led to an unprecedented “degree of focus” that could see member states agreeing a blueprint for a legally binding treaty to control plastics “from source to sea”, she said.

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‘It’s Tiger King meets Ace Ventura’: the wild true story of the world’s biggest insect heist

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From snails the size of dogs to the most venomous arachnids on the planet, the true-crime series Bug Out profiles the bizarre investigation into a robbery at the US’s first bug zoo

A room swarming with thousands of giant, exotic creepy-crawlies may sound like your worst nightmare (or one of Ant and Dec’s Bushtucker Trials on I’m a Celebrity). It is also the starting point for Bug Out, the latest bizarre true-crime documentary series, which is set in the US’s first bug zoo, the Philadelphia Insectarium & Butterfly Pavilion. Prepare for a mystery with more twists than a worm colony.

The show focuses on the moment in August 2018 when the museum’s boss, Dr John Cambridge, arrived at work and did a double take when he realised his room, that ought to have been full of critters, was suddenly empty. Glass tanks were upended, shelves bare, displays cleared out. Thousands of live bugs, worth an estimated $50,000 (£38,000), had been stolen. It was the biggest insect heist in history.

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‘I forget everything’: the benefits of nature for mental health

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As campaign launched to enshrine right to green space, Bolton woman describes how ‘tranquility walks’ helped her through lockdown

During Covid lockdowns, Sharon Powell felt alone. She was caring for her father, 90, who was deteriorating from Parkinson’s disease and dementia, and looking after him had become increasingly difficult.

Social life in her community in Johnson Fold, Bolton, had been Powell’s escape from the pressure at home, but when Covid restrictions were introduced “everything was just gone”. She was depressed, anxious and having panic attacks “like a washing machine on full spin”.

This article was amended on 21 February 2022, to correct the spelling of Trish Goodwin’s name.

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Bisquey business: Maine politicians bemoan China lobster deal flop

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Senator Angus King urges US trade representative to press Beijing to live up to promise to increase spending on tasty crustaceans

China has failed to live up to its promise to buy more Maine lobster under a deal that opened the door to an easing of a trade war under Donald Trump, Maine’s congressional leaders say.

Maine’s lobster industry was hurt by retaliatory Chinese tariffs in 2018 but failed to see substantial export gains after China committed to buying an additional $200bn in US goods, the delegation contends.

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Pine martens to be used as ‘bouncers’ to keep grey squirrels out of Highlands

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Exclusive: Dens being installed on east coast and A9 after predator’s return was found to reduce numbers of greys

Pine martens are to be deployed as wildlife bouncers along the east coast of Scotland and the A9 corridor to halt the northward march of grey squirrels.

More than 35 artificial pine marten dens are being installed by Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) at strategic locations on the grey squirrels’ path of northward migration in an attempt to save the Highland red squirrel populations.

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Flourishing plants show warming Antarctica undergoing ‘major change’

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Dramatic spread of native plants over past decade is evidence of accelerating shifts in fragile polar ecosystem, study finds

Antarctica’s two native flowering plants are spreading rapidly as temperatures warm, according to the first study to show changes in fragile polar ecosystems have accelerated in the past decade.

The increase in plants since 2009 has been greater than the previous 50 years combined, coinciding with rapidly rising air temperatures and a reduction in the number of fur seals, according to researchers working on Signy Island in the South Orkney Islands.

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‘The Brad Pitt of mountain lions’: how P22 became Los Angeles’ wildest celebrity

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Griffith Park’s famous feline – who evades sightings better than any movie star – has inspired murals, songs and even an exhibit on his life

The mountain lion known as P22 has become something of a celebrity in the city of Los Angeles. The big cat resides in Griffith Park, a 4,000-acre park tucked in the Hollywood hills, and has inspired murals, songs and even an exhibit about his life.

This February marks 10 years since scientists first found P22 while setting up camera traps in the area. His discovery was considered jaw-dropping, and scientists say that P22 has come to symbolize something uniquely LA, a city where wild landscapes rub shoulders with dense urbanism.

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More than 100 nations take action to save oceans from human harm

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Envoys at Brest summit sign up to measures to tackle fight against illegal fishing and cut pollution

Representatives from more than 100 countries have committed to measures aimed at preserving the ocean from human harm, including stepping up the fight against illegal fishing, cutting plastic pollution and better protecting international waters.

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, hosting the high-level session of the One Ocean summit on Friday, said 2022 was “a decisive year, and we should take here, in Brest, clear and firm commitments.”

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Greta Thunberg condemns UK firm’s plans for iron mine on Sami land

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Beowulf Mining ‘hopeful’ for decision on mine in Sápmi despite opposition from activist, UN and Swedish church

A British company has fallen foul of Greta Thunberg, Unesco, Sweden’s national church, and the indigenous people in the north of the country over plans for an open-pit mine on historical Sami reindeer-herding lands.

The clamour of opposition was voiced as Beowulf Mining, headquartered in the City of London, suggested it was “hopeful” of a decision within weeks of a 5 sq mile iron-ore mine in an area where Sami communities have lived for thousands of years.

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Good riddance to the koala bear, Australia’s most useless animal! | First Dog on the Moon

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The best thing about recovery plans is nobody pays any attention except for a few greenists and weary scientists

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Amnesty granted to illegal Spanish strawberry farmers despite protests over damage to wetlands

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Andalucían decision to ‘regularise’ land near Doñana national park attacked by ecology groups

Rightwing MPs in southern Spain have ignored protests from the central government, the EU, Unesco and several ecological groups by voting to grant an amnesty to illegal strawberry farmers who have been tapping water from the aquifer that feeds one of Europe’s largest protected wetlands.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Andalucían regional parliament approved the proposal, which will “regularise” 1,461 hectares (3610 acres) of land near the Doñana national park, thereby allowing farmers who have sunk illegal wells and built illicit plantations on the land to legitimise their operations.

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‘Blue diplomacy’: France summit puts world’s spotlight on oceans

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As One Ocean event in Brest aims to deliver action in areas from pollution to overfishing, activists warn against ‘bluewashing’

Up to 40 world leaders are due to make “ambitious and concrete commitments” towards combating illegal fishing, decarbonising shipping and reducing plastic pollution at what is billed as the first high-level summit dedicated to the ocean.

One Ocean summit, which opens on Wednesday in the French port of Brest, aims to mobilise “unprecedented international political engagement” for a wide range of pressing maritime issues, said its chief organiser, Olivier Poivre d’Arvor.

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