Found in central Africa, as well as parts of East and West Africa. They are generally found in wet places, particularly places like floodplains. In east Africa, the Ugandan Kob and the white eared kob (found in south Sudan and surrounding countries) both join in on migrations that happen in the areas around where they live.
Once found across much of equatorial Africa, it is also extinct in a few countries including the extreme east of the continent, in both Kenya and Tanzania.
Female kobs can live in herds of thousands, while male herds can number in their hundreds, and follow the female herds closely. One of the biggest spectactles of the natural world is the migration across South Sudan, of almost 1 million white eared kob along with various other species. Hopefully, one of these days, the situation in South Sudan will be stable enough for this area to become a tourist hotspot, and lift much of the country out of poverty.
US has tightened African elephant trophy import rules but stops short of banning
- Tim
- December 20, 2024
Elephants hunting used to be a common activity. This was banned in Kenya in 1973 and in Botswana in 2014. The trade in Elephant parts was banned in 1989. For many years, however, conservationists have called for rich countries to ban imports of hunting trophies on a country by country basis. This is for a …...
Wildcat kittens born outside captivity in Cairngorms
- Tim
- December 19, 2024
Wildcats are native to the UK, but have been pushed to the brink of extinction by hybridisation with native cats – which come from the wildcats from places like Israel in the middle east. As a result of this, as well as trying to remove the feral domestic cats, and their descendants, they are trying …...
Black rhino calf born in Kenya
- Tim
- December 19, 2024
The eastern black rhino is incredibly endangered, with just 1000 spread across a huge area. In this region, just 8 are known to live, so to see young is incredibly rare. Rhino horn is incredibly valuable on the far East traditional medicine market, despite the fact that multiple scientific studies have shown that the rhino …...
World record temperature jump recorded in Antarctica 38.5
- Tim
- December 18, 2024
This enormous temperature jump could have huge impacts. On 18th March 2022 scientist at Concordia research station on the east side of Antarctica. To put this leap in perspective, that would take a normal spring day in the UK, up to some of the highest temperatures ever recorded on planet earth.
Could Bison allow the land to reduce air pollution? – Yes
- Tim
- December 17, 2024
A small herd of 170 bison, released into a 20 square miles area of Tarcu mountains in Romania, are estimated to allow the land to capture 59,000 tones of carbon each year. Big animals like this, stimulate the soil and plant growth, allowing the soil and plant growth to take up far more carbon than …...
Analysis has found that 1/3 of land set aside for restoration is worse than before in Australia
- Tim
- December 16, 2024
Large parts of Australia look like the above photo, beautiful in a rugged way, but quite useless for the survival of many of Australia species. Australia has a wide range of habitats, which means that there are many areas which need to be protected. The problem is, according to this study, declaring an area protected …...
Beavers have been returned to the South-down national park after a 600 year absense
- Tim
- December 16, 2024
Having been released near Petersfield in the South of England, they will be tracked by a team of academics, to make sure that they survive and thrive. These beavers will help with the rejuvenation of a wetland area on the river Meon. Currently, the area consists of a straight section of the river, with a …...
Tigers have been successfully released into a part of Russia that they were lost from 50 years ago
- Tim
- December 16, 2024
Tigers once roamed Russia from East to West, but by the mid 19th century, the population had fallen to just 1000. However, the question is what was it like originally? Well, one thing we have found out in the last decade, was the fact that the Caspian tiger never existed, this was instead, merely the …...
Deforestation in Columbia has fallen 36% in a year
- Tim
- December 15, 2024
Rainforest is essential if we are to combat climate change. Therefore every fall in deforestation is fantastic news. Of course, it should be noticed, that this is still a loss of 792 square km of forest from the year before – we need to reach zero forest lost per year, but every step towards this …...
EJC has ruled against Austria on wolf hunting
- Tim
- December 15, 2024
Wolves have only recently returned to Austria, with an estimated 80 wolves spread throughout the country. It is perhaps not surprising therefore, that animal welfare activists, took the government to court, when it set cull numbers at 20, or 25% of the population a year. The Austrian government had pointed to a condition in the …...
Stored carbon dioxide ( the so-called Carbon dome) could become a giant battery, but will batteries kill it?
- Tim
- December 14, 2024
Huge carbon dioxide stores, with the gas held at high pressure (and therefore liquid, have been shown to be able to hold vast amounts of energy, and the ability to be released on demand. Energy Dome’s CO2 Battery system has currently been show to be able to store and generate up to 24.5 megawatts (MW) of power …...
Our behaviour may be still pushing the Northern right whale to extinction – entanglements may use as much energy as rearing all young
- Tim
- December 14, 2024
The Northern right whale was hunted to the brink of extinction – with less than 500 left when hunting ended. To put this in perspective, only 300 Southern right whales were left when hunting stopped, it is thought that there are now 3000-4000 Southern right whales. Now, it is true that historically the Southern right …...
The smallest elephant in the world is in danger of being lost
- Tim
- December 14, 2024
The origin of elephants in Borneo is unknown. Known for hosting the smallest elephants in the world, there are 2 theories as to how the elephants got to the island. The first is that they were released by a ruler in the 17th century (The most rapid population growth ever seen was 7,1% after the …...
Monkey species in Egypt lived on fruit 30 million years ago
- Tim
- December 14, 2024
It is hard to believe that habitats like this could possible have previously held rainforest which produces enough soft fruit for monkeys like this. Just 10,000 years ago crops were a new thing, in the same way that cows and other livestock farming. Before this, we had to hunt for virtually everything. The reason that …...
Australias environment could be fixed for 0.3% of GDP
- Tim
- December 13, 2024
Wentworth Group of concerned Scientists estimate that for just $7.3 billion a year for 30 years, most extinctions could be avoided as well as repairing soil and restoring rivers. That sounds like quite a lot? Well, invasive species cost the Australian government $24.3 billion a year now. Recovery of some of the endangered species, could …...
Near-extinct Siamese crocodile making a recovery
- Tim
- December 12, 2024
The Siamese crocodile is recovering in Cambodia, with 60 hatched babies this year – more than at any time this century. Five nests were found by locals at the end of June with the eggs that resulted in these crocodilians. Thought extinct, until being rediscovered in Cambodia they have made an impressive recovery since 2012 …...
It is becoming increasingly clear: humans are responsible for the loss of mega fauna that we can see in the past
- Tim
- December 12, 2024
The skeleton above is the closest we can get to a real mammoth, as a result of their extinction. However, it is not the only missing large species – indeed, the elephant family alone, is thought to have around 30 extinct members. Aside from these, there are 2 known extinct species of the woolly rhino, …...
The island where the feral species is an elephant
- Tim
- December 12, 2024
Around the world, there are invasive species – from grey squirrels in the UK, to Macaques on Gibraltar, however, all these pale on comparison to having to live with wild elephants. The elephants were bought to the Andaman islands in the late 19th century, to work in the timber operation, which continued until the last …...
Hundreds of giant tortoises have returned to the wild across the Galapagos
- Tim
- December 11, 2024
It is thought that the Galapagos housed a population of roughly 200,000-300,000 giant tortoises, before humans arrived. This compares to a population of around 15,000 at the current time. Rangers have been trying to boost the rate of recovery, by taking eggs from the wild, raising the tortoises in captivity and releasing them, when their …...
America is following in Europe’s footsteps, with their recovering brown bears – now they are moving into human areas
- Tim
- December 11, 2024
This is a video of one of the clashes that I am talking about. The Grizzley bear population in 1975 ( in the lower 48 states) was just 700-800 (this excludes Alaska, where the current figure is 30,000) . The lower 48 states population has grown to around 1000 or an almost 50% increase. There …...
