Indonesia to start a study to see whether the Javan Tiger is actually extinct (44 years after it was declared so)

I wrote a few moths ago, about a picture taken in Java, which purported to show a living Javan tiger. As with many similar photos, it was of low resolution, which in many situations, would appear suspicious. If you are on safari in Java, you would think that you would take a high resolution camera, and that this would be within reach at all times, as such the resolution is not really explained well enough.

Having only gone extinct in the 1970s, there are thought to have been a few Javan tigers held in Zoos, though if they were they have been bred into extinction by mixing with other subspecies. The Ringling Brothers Circus, around 1915, was said to have 2 (one in the image above

The latest study has been started after a hair was tested and found to be from a Javan tiger – but recently.

Now, before I say anything, I have to say that I would love the Javan tiger to still survive. However, the simple fact is that they have not been seen in the wild since the early 1980s.

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Scientists think they know what wiped out the largest ever ape (a huge species of Orangutan)

Gigantopithecus blacki – the likely largest species of great ape ever to have existed

Thought to have gone extinct 295,000 and 215,000 years ago, having first appeared around 2 million years ago. Rather than being caused by our ancestors, it unfortunately became extinct as a result of the climate became more seasonal and the plant-eating primate struggled to adapt to changing vegetation.

Might this be a for-shadow for the extinction of the rest of the great apes?

The largest ever primate Gigantopithecus blacki went extinct at a time when Asian great apes were thriving, and its demise has long been a considered a mystery. A massive regional study of 22 caves in southern China explores a species on the brink of extinction between 295,000 and 215,000 years ago. As the environment became more seasonal, forest plant communities changed Primates such as orangutans adapted their eating habits and behaviors in response but G. blacki showed signs of stress, struggled to adapt and their numbers dwindled.

This species was 3m (10 feet) tall, it was around twice the weight of the the largest gorillas. It was first identified around 100 years ago, from fossilized teeth (around 2000 have been found) sold as dragon bones. Around (700,000 or) 600,000 years ago we start to see large environmental changes and during that period we see a decline in the availability of fruit.

As a result Giganto (ate) less nutritious fall-back foods. We’ve got evidence from looking at the teeth structure, Westaway added. Pits and scratches on the teeth suggest it was eating really fibrous food such as bark and twigs from the forest floor.

Funnily enough, they are not thought to have ever lived in caves, but instead had their remains carried there.

As there are no, non-cranial fossils (i.e. any fossils of any part of this species below the neck) , it’s hard to know exactly what Gigantopithecus would have looked like. Its upper molars are 57.8% larger than a gorilla’s and the lower molars are 33% larger, suggesting its body weight would have been 200 to 300 kilograms.

Given its size, it is thought to have long abandoned the tree-tops, though given its closest living relative is the Bornean Orangutan, of which, older males are often spending more time on the ground given their large weight as well.

There are fossils of homo erectus from nearby, from around 800,000 years ago, suggesting that we might well have lived alongside them. How happy or harmonious this relationship is, we cannot know. Unfortunately, given recent history, it is quite likely that directly or indirectly we had a hand in this species extinction, given our impact on almost all other species that we know.

Should wolves in Europe have their conservation downgraded? Are they really stable enough to be hunted again

The European commision has proposed downgrading the protection of wolves from their current strictly protected, but it has been suggested that this is not based on any science.

A total of 9 countries (The call for a re-evaluation of the annexes of the EU Habitats Directive is included in a note put forward by Finland with the support of Austria, Czechia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Romania, Slovakia and Sweden, ahead of the EU Agriculture Council meeting of 23 January).

The problem with this move, is that while in some countries like Romania, there is a large and healthy wolf population, in other countries like France it is a very different matter. If there is a change in their status, it needs to be assessed country by country, and the European Union must really require minimum levels, otherwise, this move is highly likely to lead to the extinction of the wolf across much of Europe once again.

While living alongside wolves is not always simple, it is essential to have predators to control populations of prey, such as deer. This is not something that is easily replaced by culling, and in the UK, the likely reduction in car collisions with deer would save far more than the cost of compensation for the occasional livestock that might be lost (of course, the wolf is not currently wild in the UK and the current government sees no reason to change this).

While complicated, the interest in the wolf is high, and it is highly likely that farmers would be able to supplement their farming income by money they could be paid through ecotourism and allowing people to try to see the wolves from their land. Wolves as with many other species are still slowly recovering from centuries of persecution, they are needed for our ecosystem to flourish, and can be good for everyone, with adjustments and compensation for loss of livestock.

The telegraph has put out an article suggesting that homegrown food has 5 times greater carbon footprint than conventional: is that right? Should we all end our allotments?

Looking at the busy mass of growing green, it is hard to see how this is the most inefficient way to grow food…

The study that the article is based on comes from the university of Michigan, and is frankly badly, badly made. It is the quintessential study, where this is the answer, now how do we get there, sort of study.

So, what did they do? Well, they put gardens into 3 different categories

  • Backyard gardens – single occupancy
  • communal gardens (like the above)
  • Urban farms

Your backyard garden has about as small a carbon footprint as it is possible to have, it is possible that fruit or veg from here actually has zero carbon footprint. Community gardens can be a bit different – you have a small area, so you might use more compost or fertilizer, and it is possibly further from where you live, so you might drive to it. However, this kind of place also has a low carbon footprint.

It is essentially just the Urban farms which are a problem here: growlights and watering and temperature controls all add up to large quantities of energy.

This video shows this is an easy way to understand.

Do not be put off! If you have an allotment or a vegetable patch in your garden, this is almost completely carbon free food, it does bring down your carbon footprint.

It is unfortunately the kind of study you can find in a newspaper like the Telegraph; I do not think it would be a surprise for any readers to hear, that this is not the place readers go to find out about the new scientific studies of this kind.

Personal update!

I have been ill, which is why the blog has been quiet for the last few weeks. We are continuing to work on various things, and we hope increasingly, for the articles to come from more sources (which would remove this problem).

We are currently trying to iron out some of our issues, but having done that we hope that this platform can start to reach its hoped for heights (with your support).

Tiger mother with cubs, sighted in Thailand!

Thailand is only thought to have around 120 tigers (as of a photo count last year, but this is up from 100 in 2022). This is a significant reduction on the estimates just a few years ago. It is true that Thailand has significant wilderness within its borders, but there is also significant poaching pressure.

Never-the-less, to see a mother with 3 healthy cubs is rare and very encouraging. Recovery must be allowed to continue, both for the species, and the people of the country, as tigers are worth a great deal in tourism money.

This tiger is the Indo-Chinese tiger subspecies (Click here to visit the tiger page, and scroll to the bottom of the page to click on the subspecies tab).

White whale spotted near Shetland!

This is not a melanistic whale, instead it is a beluga whale, which is usually white. Filmed in January it is only the sixth time that this species has been sighted in Scottish waters, generally living in the icy arctic waters.

This species has around 150,000 individuals left in the wild, making them more safe than many species. However, living in the Arctic where global warming is changing things fast, we need to remain viligant, as it could be quite a different situation after not much time.

To view our page on Beluga whales, and any other mention that the species has had in the past, click here

Late last year Exxon spent $60 billion to by a shale gas giant – the deserve to go bankrupt

Exxon is like many other oil companies – they have buried their head in the sand, and have continued to deny the science.

There are still oil rigs littering our coasts, do we really want another rush to build more equipment, which will last long after the shale gas runs out?

What astounds me, is that, over the last 3 years, the price of Exxon shares has gone up 3 times over. This means that the majority of people who are investing in the market, believes either that there is a killing to be made from Exxon before it goes out of business, or climate change is wrong (it is true that investment in Exxon 3 years ago would have tripled, but a long-term investment is unlikely to be successful, as Exxon has to completely change its business model.

So, why is Exxon buying a shale giant?

Clearly, it thinks that there is money to be made, before the world transitions. The problem is that should Exxon be right, the world will suffer more global warming.

We already need to leave much of our known reserves of fossil fuels in the ground, Shale gas, is just more,

We need to be moving away from fossil fuels as fast as we can.

How is your family doing? As for us, we have bought a second had electric car, we have just installed our solar and thermal solar, and will in a couple of weeks, have a heat pump installed that will remove our last reliance on gas (these two moves, will have removed carbon from our travel and from our house running and heating – we also have zero carbon electricity). Obviously we still have a way to go, but we are making progress. Of course, from a finance point of view, it is a good move – it is true that our car was more expensive than anything we’ve had before, however, the purchase cost will only take 6-7 years to save back , and our house greening has a payback time of around 4 years- after that we should be several hundred pounds better off each month.

Exxon is still betting that there is more money to be made before the good times are over, however they are betting on our future.

It is foolish to invest in them, either they are right, and will make a fortune while the world suffers, or they are wrong, and this business venture will collapse.

Environmental and political stories from the UK in recent times

On this post, I will list a group of articles on British politics. Unfortunately, there have been quite a lot in recent times, hence this way to deal with them. These are mostly to do with climate and environment, rather than animals, though obviously this is of importance. It should be noted, that while some of these sound like they are contradictory, they are not, though I would argue that some suggest underlying conflict which needs sorting asap. (Given its length, do use ctrl f, which will allow you to jump to any article that specfically interests you

Rishi Sunak facing renewed pressure over plans to max out North sea oil

Bottom trawling of fishing nets has been found to release large amounts of carbon – 370 million tonnes each year around the world (a problem in the north sea, but also worldwide)

4 Electric heaters adverts banned in the UK for suggesting they are cheaper than gas

UK ‘used to be a leader on climate’, cry EU lawmakers, as the UK backtracks, Northern Ireland ‘dirty corner of Europe, Various environmental protections dropped since Brexit

Wind power saved Northern Ireland £243 million last year

Surprise, Surprise: as the government was told, a 10 year study has shown culling is not best way to cut Bovine TB (but are they going to listen?

-Tories (UK conservatives) urged to end idiotic £1.8 billion tax break for UK fishing fleet

‘Smart’ trap trial raises hopes American mink can be driven from the UK

-UK government refuse to admit idea that nature has rights

UK finally (earlier this week) quit a treaty -Energy Charter Transition, which allowed fossil fuel firms to sue governments over climate policies

UK to ban boilers in new homes, and rules out hydrogen as  heating source, but it already makes little sense as a car fuel

UK government is removing the right to climate protesters defence is feared to erode the right to trial by jury

A new battery in the UK is to store enough power keep 90,000 homes running through a blackout

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