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North Atlantic right whale population appears to be stabilizing!

The population of the north Atlantic right whales appears to have stabilized at around 350, having fallen from a peak of 483 in just 2010. In 2022 there were 356, down from 364 in just 2021.

Never a highly numerous species (it would appear) around 5500 were taken in the 3 centuries of whaling. The problem now, is that the population is so small that any looses imperil the whole species. Further, given the large amount of boating in the area, many of the remaining individuals have propeller scaring, and collisions are common and occasionally fatal.

Time will tell if this species can recover, though tourism interest is likely to give them a higher value to the local community and may help save the species.

Below is a short 5 minute video from the NOAA  (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)

To visit our North atlantic right whale page click here   Should you operate in tourism for this species, do get in touch, we would love to help people find you- it costs nothing to be linked, we only take a small cut of any income we find for you. Click on List your wild place at the top of the page, or here

 

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Pangolins are returning to Kenya

Long thought to be extinct in the country, one was caught, back in 2018. As a result, effort is being put into protecting this species. Farmland around the Serengeti erected electric fences in order to stop elephants from stealing their crops, however, unfortunately, they have been having an unintended consequence.

Pangolins need to be able to roam large distances, and they have been regularly being electrocuted. Unfortunately, they roll up in a ball, as a natural reaction to threat, and this has lead to many rolling up around the wire, thereby being electrocuted.

This discovery in 2018 was of a dead pangolin, and as a result, many farmers have changed how their electric fence works to help protect this creature.

There are only thought to be 30-80 pangolins left in the country, but by making these small changes, the few pangolins that remain will be able to thrive, and the population is likely to grow.

This is a pangolin sighting that was filmed on the Massai mara

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Largest offshore windfarm just powered up, and its just off UK

This vast wind farm can produce around 3.6 gigawatts of power when turned on. To put that in perspective, peak demand in the UK is currently around 61 gigawatt hours, This means that even at peak demand, this wind turbine is capable of providing roughly 5% of the UK power demand. By contrast, the average house in the UK has a low-point in power demand, during the night, when around 0.2kwh is used an hour. This equates to around 5gigawatt hours. In other words, this single wind farm is likely to be able to deal with all baseload demands of the UK housing. Of course there is other demand, from shop lights being left on, to night shifts in factories.

However, what is clear, is that this is a significant amount of power, and is likely to greatly reduce the amount of gas required to be burnt for power production.

Given that this adds to the already installed stock, we now can create around 30gwh of electricity from wind – when it is at its peak.

Now, of course the wind does not blow at this required rate to produce the maximum amount of power 24 hours a day, so these numbers are not available all day.

To put these numbers in context, in 2022, wind delivered around 26% of UK electricity. Given all the large wind farms planned, this will grow.

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Reversing extinction: Marwell zoo and the scimitar-horned oryx

Declared extinct in the wild back in 2000, this species is now not only re-established in the wild, but has a big enough population to now only be listed as endangered (down from critically endangered).

Apart from supplying individuals for the reintroduction, Marwell zoo also helped with strategy.

The video below is just 2 minutes long. While it talks about Marwells other work as well, it shows a number of these animals living wild back in Africa.

This has got to become the reason for zoos. What ever else they do, there are many species at risk of extinction in the wild, these need to have enough captive individuals to re-establish wild populations, should the current conservation fail.

Of course, zoos have many other roles, from education, to fostering a love of wildlife in the next generation.

One thing that they should not be, is a curio house- many zoos are far to worried about displaying albino or melanistic individuals. Now while these individuals are fascinating and can be used as ambassadors for the species, their genetic health should be looked after (all white tigers are descended from one female, and closely related individuals are regularly bred togerther to ensure this trait is passed down. Indeed, as a result of this, white tigers are often not of good health.

The majority of zoos are now like Marwell – while like many, it started as the private zoo of wealthy owners it has turned into an important place of conservation and science. Another of their successes, is the cooperative breeding that occurs as standard in current times, across Europe. Regular loaning of animals is essential, so that we can treat all of the zoo animals in Europe as one single population, thereby  making sure that all animals in the system are healthy.

There are many hundreds of zoos across Europe (some claim as many as 2000, though around 1500 is the estimated worldwide number suggesting that this is a rather large exaggeration. It is likely that around half of the worlds zoos are in Europe, and by cooperative breeding, we can make sure that healthy populations remain in captivity, so that should a population be lost from the wild, it can be returned, when the wild situation improves.

Almost all predictions about human population are expected to peak in the coming decades, and then decline after that. If this pattern is followed, it should be expected that we will need to re-establish wilderness in the future. 

Scimitar-horned oryx have been returned to the wild in Tunisia, and Chad and there are plans to return them to the wild in Niger, in the near future.

Extinction was caused by a variety of features, but the primary one was over-hunting. This has virtually been eliminated, after a ban on hunting of this species was put into effect in 2013. Should this species be allowed to fully recover. In 1985, there was a population of at least 500 of this species living in the wild, so it took only 15 years for it to disappear, as such what is clearly essential is a regular assessment on how this species is faring, allowing earlier interventions.

Saving the natural world, may require this kind of success to be a regular feature.

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Dominica’s mountain chicken frog is heading to extinction faster than anything recorded before

Once so common that they were cooked as a national food on the island. Yet in just two decades, the animal is one of the rarest in the world, with an estimated population of just 21.

Growing to 20cm long and weighing over 1kg, it was one of Dominica’s apex predators. eating small mammals, snakes and other frogs.

It’s decline is notable, as its calls were formerly something that you heard across the island.

Now, silence from this frog has fallen across most of the island.

Initially, its decline was caused by a fungus, which impacted amphibians skin – important, as many amphibians breathe through there skin, and all breathe through their skin.

The breakout of this fugni led to a decline of 80% in just one year. Known to only occur on one other island (Montserrat), scientists urged strict quarantine measures to stop it arriving, but these warnings failed to have any effect.

A number of these frogs were removed in 2009 as the illness began to spread, and they are housed around the world in various zoos, such as London zoo.

In recent times, a few surviving individuals have been discovered. These appear to be naturally resistant to the chytrid fungus that is at fault.

Unfortunately, shortly after, hurricane Maria hit, and the population declined a further 80%, back into double digits.

Due to the lack of immunity to this fungus, it would appear that zoo individuals that were rescued back in 2009 are all irrelevant. Whether with such a small wild population, it is worth capturing more (it is possible that these new individuals could be bred with already captive individuals, bit this may not retain the immunity).

The remaining wild frogs are found in 2 populations, and neither are found on protected land. As such, the situation could change fast if land use changes would occur.

The conservationists in the wild are still working, but it is thought that there is only 2 years left to save the species from extinction.

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Goulds mouse, thought extinct for 125 years, lives on

The mouse was considered to be stuck on the mainland, which means that if true it would have been lost for good.

Thankfully this was not the case. 

This mouse was living under the identity of the Djoongari mouse, or the Shark bay mouse, on an island in shark bay.

Furthermore, by looking at the genetic diversity of these mice (from specimens taken at the time) was high, which makes it clear that right before extinction, there were large numbers of these animals. This means that their extinction was not a natural process as had been assumed, but is instead an issue with human arrival. 

Instead, extinct is likely due to a mixture of

  • Introduction of predators in the form of domestic cats and foxes
  • changes to fire management (carried out effectively before European arrival)
  • Introduction of new diseases
  • Habitat destruction due to industrialisation and land clearing for agriculture.

While these mice are unlikely to be possible to return to the mainland for some time (until feral cats and other species are eliminated) they can perhaps be introduced to other small islands to guarantee their survival.

 

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“EU must cut carbon emissions 3 times faster to meet targets”

A new report has calculated that the EU is only cutting carbon emissions at 1/3 of the rate which is required in order to meet the 55% cut – from buildings, transport and agriculture by 2030

While emissions are falling, they are not falling anywhere near fast enough

Over the last 30 years, carbon emissions have dropped by 32% . while this is an impressive amount, it is far short of the promise.

The best predictions for the future, are that by 2050 the EU will have cut emissions by around 43%. While this is an important step, it is far short of what has been promised.

More importantly, at the current rate, we will have only met a further 1/3 by 2050.

The job is not done – much of the carbon emissions from the last 3 decades have been easy to achieve. They have been achieved through efficiency gains, and moving production offshore. Very little change in the EU behaviour has been required.  

An easy gain, both for individual cost, and emissions is electric cars. A faster transition is likely to save countries much money too (though it is true that at the current time, there is an issue with the tax revenue coming from fossil fuel sales.

It is far cheaper to run clean alternatives, so we must make that show in the figures.

Some governments are making efforts to help, but not in every way. For instance, in the UK, you can get money towards an electric car, but not a used one (which given the reduction in price, is likely to go further and help more. On heat pump the government is doing better – with the increase in the air-source heat pump grant, the cost to individuals has reduced to around 3500 (on average buying a heat-pump as well as installing and changing radiators to work with the lower temperature (bigger) the cost is around £11,000. However, many people have missed the advertising, and are unaware. It is true that new build homes will not be allowed to install boilers after 2025. 

However, older houses with gas boilers will be unaffected by the change until 2035. But the average cost for a new boiler, plus installation is thought to be around £4000, in 2023, meaning that for many homes, it will be cheaper to replace now.

Furthermore, while an air-source heat pump is thought to be around £50 more to run each year, should something like a thermal solar panel be added, the cost is far lower.

With carefully designed rules for builders, the switch to low cost private transport, and low cost private house heating can be cheap and obvious. At the current rate, though, this is not being met.

In the UK, clearly better understanding and education is essential, and builders need to see that adding things like thermal solar panels is a must.

Will it happen? will the EU meet our 55% target? at current speed, it is clear that this will be hard work. However, if this money is not found, we are likely to need far more in the future to adapt to the world we are creating.

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Albino panda spotted in the wild

Rare albino panda seen again

If anyone has been reading this blog for some time, you may remember me writing about an albino panda that was photographed in wulong nature reserve in China (click here to read it)

This bear has been caught on camera (see above) and appears to be doing well. It has started to display mating behaviour and appears to be extremely healthy. It has all the features generally associated with albinism, with white fur and red eyes.. It is now around 5-6 years old, and has been seen playing with other pandas, suggesting that its unusual colouring is not leading to it being shunned from other pandas.

It was filmed approaching a mother with a 2 year-old cub. As the mother was ready to mate again, and yet did not show aggression to this male bear getting close, it is likely that this female is the mother of the white cub.

Currently thought to be numbered 1800 in the wild, the panda is currently listed as threatened – having been delisted from being endangered in 2016. It is also an integral part of the Giant panda national park which is being created, and links 67 panda reserves, allowing the bears to travel between the former islands of habitat, giving them the ability to breed in a more natural way. This is important, as inbreeding would make panda conservation even harder.

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Maned wolf shown on planet earth 3

For those watching this amazing series, you will have see the beautiful animal – looking rather like a fox on stilts, the maned wolf is a species that lives on the plains of the cerrado in South America. It is unfortunately greatly under threat. Time will tell what will happen in the future.

These animals are heavily under threat, and as such, it is essential that locals see them as a benefit. This means that tourism to this region will help their long-term future. 

It is a particularly difficult issue for those who are concerned, because while we want to cut our carbon emissions, we must also find a way for enough people to visit, to warrant their long term protection.

We have a page for the maned wolf, and we have embeded a video from a bbc wildlife documentary on this species from a few years ago (though you can also watch a good clip of it from planet earth 3 episode 3)

Click here to visit the page.

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Algonquin wolves -origin different than we thought?

The Algonquin wolf, also known as the Eastern wolf is a species which has been discovered in the eastern USA and Canada (click on the bold name above, to visit the species page). 

Perhaps, understandably, it is hard to find a new species in the USA unless it is already pretty rare. This species is only thought to have around 500 individuals, throughout its range (eastern USA and north into Canada).

South-eastern Canada has been known for a race of wolves and coyotes, that do not appear quite right for some time. This study suggested that this group of wolves split from the rest of wolves around 67,000 years ago. This appears to recent to give rise to the significant genetic differences, but it appears that this population also bred with coyotes around 37,000 years ago, and has continued to have genetic exchange between both species (on occasion) since.

As such, it is suggested that the Eastern wolf largely owes its appearance to hybridization between all three.

Has this lead to a more successful species? Well, one may well suggest not, given the small number of these wolves that survive at this time.

However, this is a well settled part of North America, suggesting that in fact it could be down to human hunting rather than natural forces.

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