See Animals Wild – Page 23 – Wildlife and conservation new, wild travel information and links for booking

October 20, 2022

Is it possible to buy beef from South America, and be sure your not supporting deforestation? A new study suggests not

It would appear that no matter what supermarkets are saying, South American beef is still encouraging deforestation. According to a new study 1.1 million cattle with boot directly from protected areas within in the rainforest, with a further 2.2 million cattle found to have spent at least some of their lives grazing in protected areas or on indigenous land.

It should be noted that this study largely stops taking you data in 2018. This is not because they got bored, but because at the beginning of 2019 Jair Bolsonaro olsonaro was elected and change the rules so they could not do the work they were doing.

As much as 70% of the Amazon rainforest deforestation has been entirely down to creating space for cattle grazing. While virtually every meat producer has promised not to source their meat from these areas, information appears to be kept intentionally lacking so that these meat producers can get away with using resources they have promised not to.

Quite apart from the high carbon footprint of consuming South American beef in Europe, it is clear that we cannot do, and be sure we are not contributing to the loss of the Amazon rainforest.

I should mention (as I have in the past) that my family have largely seems to eat beef. We have not gone vegetarian, but have found that replacing beef mince with turkey mince not only greatly reduces our carbon footprint but is almost indistinguishable after it has been cooked. If you must eat beef (unless something changes dramatically this is likely to always have an unacceptably high carbon footprint) at least eat British beef- not only should it have much lower travel carbon footprint, but there are no rainforests in the UK to be lost.

October 19, 2022October 18, 2022

Graham Stuart (UK climate minister) claims that UK fracking and oil drilling is good for environment

Graham made this statement as he informed MPs that he had awarded more than 100 licences for north sea drilling – and claimed that this was a green policy. He also claimed that this fossil fuel extraction will help the UK reach net zero by 2050.

why do we keep appointing fools who do not believe in climate change, to help us do something about it

October 18, 2022October 18, 2022

Has Australia actually appointed a climate change authority member who actually wants to do the right thing?

Australia is likely to loose a great deal if climate change continues in a big way. This is because Australia already has a large part of the country unbearably hot. If the temperature increases another 2-5 degrees these areas might well become impossible to survive within.

This is why it is so strange that Australia is so backwards in this respect.

Currently, Australia gets a great deal of money by selling coal abroad. This is because Australia is incredibly rich in coal. As a result they are keen to be able to put off zero carbon as long as possible as they will loose this income.

Professor Lesley Huges is a climate specialist, that has just been appointed to the Australia climate change authority and she has quite rightly stated that 2050 net zero is not good enough. Encouragingly, though she has also said that the new government was showing a willingness to listen to science. The Climate change minister has appointed 3 new members after it was suggested that the authority was to heavily weighted in the direction of business and fossil fuels (if there are too many representatives from this part of the market, then concerns about global warming are likely to get less voice, as fossil fuel companies know they only have a finite length of time to make money from resources that are likely to be banned in the future).

October 18, 2022October 18, 2022

And the attacks continue! Hopefully they have been blocked out, for now

I am unsure why this website has come under such a heavy and sustained attack over the last while.

We are desperately trying to fend off these attacks once and for all, while at the same time moving forwards on what the website is supposed to accomplish.

So why are we a target? I have no idea, unfortunately it appears that many websites are targeted constantly.

I am hoping that we are now sorted, for now

October 17, 2022October 18, 2022

Has Liz Truss appointed a climate change denialist? is this on purpose? Liz Truss “attack on nature”.

Recent positions taken by Jacob Reece-Mogg include ‘Squeezing “every last cubic inch of gas”‘ from the north sea, restarting fracking, rejecting windfarms (and instead preferring fossil fuels) has all been pushed forwards of his position. He has a history of accusing people of climate alarmism. Two other mps refused the role of the climate change minister (though eventually Graham Stuart agreed to take it on).

Jacob reece-mogg, sometimes named as the member of parliament for the 19th century, is no longer a back bencher. As such his insane views on climate change must be ridiculed, until he moves on, or starts behaving in the countries interests.

Conservative members who are concerned about climate change (so called Green Tories – my argument would be, that if any Tory is not concerned about climate change and global warming, should not be considered for a role in the cabinet. We cannot continue to tolerate climate change denialism in the UK government).

October 13, 2022October 18, 2022

49% of the worlds bird species are in decline and 1 in 8 are at risk of extinction

There are many mammal species that are threatened with extinction, with 73% of species facing pressure as a result of agriculture expansion. These are two of the most endangered.

There are also 187 bird species that have been confirmed to have vanished from the wild since 1500.

Perhaps one of the rare positive stories in the report said that more than 20 bird species would have gone extinct in the last 30 years without the work of conservationists.]

Many of these bird species are essential for ecosystem health, so their continued decline will have a significant impact on virtually every ecosystem around the world – and may cause the collapse of some.

October 12, 2022October 6, 2022

Linking bear and wolf populations across Europe is the best way to preserve them longterm – is this possible?

The Pyrennes in the south west of France, and the corresponding area across the border, are a wonderful area of wilderness. There are currently about 64 bears living in this area. So where are we on the road to recovery?

Were the the entire Pyrennes mountains wild, it is thought that these mountains could support 600 bears. However, this area is not an area that is set aside for wilderness – there is a whole population of humans living in these mountains (almost 700,000 people live here).

It is thought that the bear population of the Pyrennes could potentially get to 250 in its current form.

October 11, 2022October 7, 2022

Could the Platypus go extinct soon?

The Platypus was such a wierd looking animal, many of the original scientists that studied specimens sent back to the UK, looked for sewing marks – they believed that it must be several creatures joined together. Even 20 years after its discovery, scientists were still arguing about whether it was real. The anatomist Robert Knox claimed if was a “freak imposture”, and that ”the scientific [community] felt inclined to class this rare production of nature with eastern mermaids and other works of art.” This was not only due to its weird appearance, but several other fake animals that had come to light in recent times.

Yet it was not,

A wild Platypus

To be sure, it is a mammal which perhaps stretches the definition more than most. It lays eggs, has a ducks beak, but feeds its young on milk. It is one of the many oddities that live in Australia.

Unfortunately it is facing local extinction, in many places across its range, and has lost a quarter of its range in the last 30 years..

This is a species that could quietly slip towards extinction without being noticed – being shy, nocturnal and not splashing, they are rarely seen. Most people who do not see one, might suggest that they simply did not get lucky.

There are a range of threats that are pushing them towards extinction. Water extraction from rivers and creeks, the building of dams and weirs, as well as river bank erosion. Increasing regularity of droughts also threaten their long-term survival as their homes become too shallow – allowing feral cats and foes to attack them.

They are capable of living alongside humans – the video above is in the Suburbs of a city, but as pollution increases they often disappear.

The lead author of the study concludes that the Platypus is not facing complete extinction, but local extinction in many different parts of Australia.

October 10, 2022October 7, 2022

Chimpanzee and Gorilla seen spending extended periods together in the wild

Chimpanzees and Gorillas share much of the forests of central and Western Africa. It is therefore not surprising that they might meet from time to time.

As babies, all sorts of creatures spend time together. In Gombe stream the Jane Goodall study documented Chimpanzees and baboons playing together as young.

Wild Gorilla and Chimpanzee feeding in the same tree at the same time

October 9, 2022October 18, 2022

Did Jair Bolsonaro set up a new board to publish deforestation data in July to mislead?

So, Jair Bolsonaro and Luiz Lula de Silva have both made it through to the final round for the presidency.

However, the fact that this new deforestation data board was set up 3 months ago, in the run up to an election. This at a time when Jair Bolsonaro is being hit for his terrible record on deforestation during his first term. In other words, people are claiming that this is purely a political organisation to help him pull the wool over the countries eyes.