Category: Habitat destruction

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The Indonesian rhinos that once roamed across much of Asia

The wildlife of Indonesia now often looks like relatively unique to those islands. This is not the natural state of affairs. 60,000 years ago, a cousin of the orangutan lived on the mainland. Unfortunately, what appears clear, is that humans were responsible for the extinction of these animals as with so many more.

There are 2 species of Indonesian Rhino, the Javan rhino and the Sumatran rhino. Now it should be noted that these names are not an indication of a small range (or if it is, it is wrong) in reality, both rhino species were far more widely spread. Indeed mainland specimens lived within the 21st century.

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West african Lion spotted in a reserve in Chad that has not recorded one since 2004

A lioness has been spotted in a reserve in Chad, which has not recorded one since 2004!

Chad being a west African country, has far fewer lions than in the east, read on for more

Lions have not been spotted in the Chad national park of Sena Ouro since 2004, it is not clear if a few lions hung on for the last few decades or if lions have migrated over from a park the other side of the border in Cameroon, where the lion population is a little more healthy.

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Another report stresses the importance of rewilding for climate change, and reintroductions

A report has calculated that the reintroduction of 9 species would do so much benefit to the ecosystems that they are found in, that these reintroductions would help us to keep global warming to 1.5° C.

While some of these would require human adaption, many would have benefits far beyond climate change.

These species are

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Red Panda population has halved in the last 20 years, what is the future for the giant pandas little cousin?

Have you ever seen a red panda in the zoo? While the wild population has halved from 5000 to 2500. Yet at the same time the number in zoos has increased.

Although far smaller, the red panda can be fascinating to watch. Recent analysis shows it is not just looks, these animals are surprisingly similar

Europe now has about 407 individual red pandas and while figures are harder to find elsewhere, there are probably more red pandas now in zoos which in comparison to the giant panda population in zoos is around 500 world wide. Why is this?

Continue reading “Red Panda population has halved in the last 20 years, what is the future for the giant pandas little cousin?”
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Orangutans are roaming into villages in Sumatra – bad news

At first glance, you could look at this headline as good news – in most instances, wild animals do not start looking outside their habitat for places to live, unless there are too many and they are being forced out. However, they also start looking elsewhere when they struggle to find food where they are, or as a result of encroachment.

Tapanuli Orangutan mother with young – Image by Aditya Sumitra/Mighty Earth.

In this instance it is thought to be as a result of construction of a hydroelectric dam. Perhaps more alarming, these are the Tapanuli Orangutans, which only number 800 and which if this dam is completed, will lose most of their range.

As the 8th great ape, it may also be the first great ape pushed to extinction and in their case as a direct choice of the local authorities.

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COP 15 aimed to create a framework to halt the biodiversity loss on earth, what will its effect long-term?

COP15 ended with a hug biodiversity agreement, but will it succeed? Well that it is a hard question to answer, but I thought that 3 months after its signing, it would be worth returning to it and looking at what was promised!

Will our grandchildren look back at what happened with horror, or will this be a turning point?
Continue reading “COP 15 aimed to create a framework to halt the biodiversity loss on earth, what will its effect long-term?”
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Could old growth trees lock away more carbon than we thought?

A study in Oxfordshire last year, looked at how much carbon was locked away in 1000 trees. This study showed that old trees are more important than we thought, with them storing as much as twice as much carbon initially estimated.

For a long time the ecological benefit of ancient woodland has been known, but here we realize that ancient woodland is equally important for carbon sequestion

Why is this important?

Simple!

It shows that the destruction of the rainforest in Africa, Asia, and South America, cannot be offset by planting a similar number of trees in the north. Even worse, if the UK government decides to build a motorway that requires clearing an ancient woodland, replacing the trees one for one is not good enough.

This must rapidly be added to calculations

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Could road crossings threaten the survival of the Texas Ocelot?

Ocelots are often thought of as relatively exotic animal. Looking like a small leopard or Jaguar, this is not particularly surprising. Never-the-less, like their bigger cousin, the jaguar, they are a native cat of the USA.

Unfortunately, as it is dangerous, this Ocelot crossing is not rare

Road deaths are a significant problem, as with a total population not thought to number more than 60-80, 8 were lost in under a year (2015-2016). Texas has created 27 wildlife crossings, with many in Ocelot areas, but clearly more are needed, along with driver education.

Perhaps more unhelpful, as Ocelots are largely nocturnal, they are usually crossing the road when hardest to see. Once relatively common in the southern USA, just 1% of its optimal habitat remains, and this is criss-crossed by road.

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Returning Jaguars to the USA

While few animals have been completely exterminated from north America in the last 300 years there are a few on the brink.

One such animal is the Jaguar.

Could Southern Arizona become a place for ecotourism in the future?

The last known Jaguar roams the Rocky lands of Southern Arizona and is called Sombra. The last known female was shot 60 years ago this year. Conservationists are calling for Jaguars to be reintroduced into the Gila national forest, a 3 million acre wilderness in New Mexico, along with protection for millions more acres which Sombra currently roams.

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The worlds 3 most destructive industries are fossil fuels, farming and fisheries, yet all three are protected by (and subsidized) by governments

Unfortunately these 3 activities appear to be most responsible for collapse or incredible pressure on ecosystems across the globe.

Both fossil fuel extraction and farming have required huge areas to be deforested
Continue reading “The worlds 3 most destructive industries are fossil fuels, farming and fisheries, yet all three are protected by (and subsidized) by governments”
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