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Pine marten roundup

For any readers who do not know what a pine marten is, the above will give you an idea. It is an arboreal predator (that is, it hunts in the trees). There are a total of 8 species of marten across the world. Historically, this was the second most common predator in the UK, with only the fox being more common.

Unfortunately, its habit of taking chickens lead to it being hunted ruthlessly. At the current time, it hangs on in Wales, and has a significant population in Scotland. In Ireland, the recovery is far further along.

In the UK, one of the reasons that we miss this little predator, is its impact on grey squirrels. Unlike the pine marten, the grey squirrel is not native to the UK, and its presence does much damage, from its impact on trees, and other plants, to the fact that it carries a disease which wipes out the reds rapidly (so they are incapable of living alongside each other). This is a species which I have followed closely, and while other matters have stopped me blogging on this species as often as I would like, it has not stopped me from reading about it, so you will find summaries of a variety of stories below.

 

 

Reintroduction project in Dartmoor: 15 pine martens were released in secret locations within Dartmoor in September. A total of 7 conservation organisations have been involved in this translocation. It is a total of around 150 years since pine martens were last in the area, but the translocated individuals are settling and slowly dispersing across the landscape.

To the right you will find a tiktok video which will give you details on this reintroduction.

@woodland_trust Pine martens are back in Dartmoor! 🎉    This conservation success story is the work of The Two Moors Pine Marten Project which we’re a partner of. 🌳    Site manager David Rickwood explains more. 📽    Learn more at 👉 twomoorspinemartens.org  @National Lottery Heritage Fund   #woodlandtrust #wildlife #britishwildlife #wildlifetok #pinemartens #dartmoor #conservation ♬ original sound - Woodland Trust

While there is no idea where the pine martens came from, they appear to be doing well, and as the video shows, are breeding. While they have not been there long, so there is little evidence yet, it is highly likely that the pine marten arrival will be bad for local grey squirrel populations (a non-native squirrel which does much damage to UK woodland). This is an area of excitment and should be followed closely.

Pine marten spotted on Longleat estate

Pine marten caught on camera trap in Longleat estate in Wiltshire. It is unclear where this individual came from, lying half way between the forest of dean and the new forest (but far from both), but it is thought it has arrived naturally. While red squirrels would not be able to reappear in this part of the country, without help, as all surrounding areas have grey squirrels, should the pine marten survive, it is likley to greatly impact the local popualtion, and create an island, into which red squirrels could eventually return.

Pine marten in the forest of dean

Pine marten were translocated from Scotland into the forest of dean, beginning in autumn of 2019, when 19 were introduced, and a further 35 joined them in the next 2 years. Last summer, there was an estimate of 60 living in the forest, which while not a big increase, it has not fallen.

While the forest of dean covers just over 200 square miles, it is thought that 60 is roughly the carrying capacity. That suggests that the pine martens in the forest of dean need roughly twice as much space as elsewhere, so time will tell if the population can grow beyond this level. Still, it seems likely that this number of pine martens should be able to eradicate the grey squirrel, or at least greatly reduce its number in the area.

The below video shows 3 cubs from around 4 years ago.

 

Pine marten in the forest of dean

Research is being done on whether pine martens can live in timber forests – which account for a lot of forest in Scotland

Some simple changes may well allow timber and pine martens to flourish alongside each other. Across 1 woodland, a number of nest boxes have been added, which appears to be helping. The plantations are also looking at letting some older trees stay standing, as these are where cavities appear, which is the pine martens natural home. This research is being carried out in the forest of Ae and around Castle O’er.

Pine martens have turned up in a London cemetery, in area of England where they have not been seen for 150 years 

The Zoological Society of London ZSL (London Zoo)  already had a project in the area with remote cameras, as it is a stronghold for the hedgehog (unfortunately, another species with a horrific decline in the last 20-30 years). It was just one (and this was in 2022, so may well be gone), but it is exciting that such a small area can house an animal like this.

The Forest of dean, is 80 miles away, which is the nearest population, so it is thought that this might have to be the result of an illegal translocation (they are being translocated, but should be done by professionals, with checks and more.

Pine marten recovery is further along, and helps understand how it will work in England, particularly in cities (not the safe zone once thought)

 Once almost extinct, for similar reasons in the UK (habitat destruction, and persecution) in 1976 they were given legal protection, and at the same time, forestry started to expand once again. The pine marten is how living in around 45% of Ireland.

The red squirrel is recovering as a result. There was a fear that grey squirrels would survive within cities, as pine martens are generally to shy to venture into even large parks within cities. However, what has been found, is that the abundance of squirrels in cities is a mirage – there are only sustained by populations outside the city, therefore, should places like the green belt around London get settled by pine martens, it is likely that the London squirrels would disappear within a few years.

Similar to elsewhere, pine martens have now also been introduced to the Lake district.

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Why are people determined to believe that wind turbines kill whales

Coastal Australia is having another flare-up where locals are suggesting that wind turbines are killing whales. If this were the case, it would mean that those who want to save the planet would need to choose between climate change and conservation of whales.

Read more: Why are people determined to believe that wind turbines kill whales

Pictures put up, include images of whales on fire, among others – paid for Newcastle adn Port Stephens Game Fish Club. They suggested that the posters highlighted risks that were known for the whales, but there is no credible evidence that wind turbines have any impact on whales (except during building, but as the picture shows this is short-lived). Indeed Quentin Hanich who is the editor of the academic journal Marine Policy recently had to spend a week debunking a fake article that purported to come from his publication, which claimed that 400 whales would die a year, if a proposed wind farm went ahead. While the facebook post where it originated was taken down, the fake articles can be written far faster than they can be taken down. This offshore wind farm in New south Wales, is opposed by everyone from locals to MPs from outside the region – usually because the are opposed to renewable energy development.

This seems short-sighted- while Australia does have a large coal industry, most is exported (only around 30% is used in the country, and coal in electricity generation is now so much more expensive than almost any renewable generation, that its days are numbered) and of Japan,South Korea, Taiwan,and India which takes the majority, only India does not have a 2050 pledge of zero carbon – so if those promises are to be kept, the market for most of the coal will disappear within the next 25 years.

Opposition has been fanned by the coalition, and people like Baraby Joyce (a renewable energy opponent and climate change denier) have been loudly stating that support for renewables was a cult and the people should fight back.

Amanda De Lore is also fighting against it, and suggest that the 3 month consultation period was rushed and hidden (it was not) and that offshore wind is “not clean, green energy”. She stated that the project was not taking her groups concerns into consideration. However, when concerns are raised which do not conform with reality (like suggesting that offshore wind turbines are not green) they should be ignored. Importantly, when you compare the death toll of offshore wind turbines to a coal power plant, the numbers are stark with thousands more species killed by coal power.

This is part of the issue with public consultation. When opponents lace the population with falsehoods, you find yourself having to engage in a years-long effort to correct, before you can even have an intelligent conversation.

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Extreme heat is killing many Amazonian Dolphins

As the temperature rises in the Amazon, Amazonian dolphins are struggling to survive. Several hundred have died in and around lake Tefe where the temperature has reached 39 degrees Celsius – for reference, a hot bath is anything above 37 degrees (at 44 degrees, people start to scald).

Their bodies along with many thousands of fish, are floating on the surface. The lake is particularly hot, as a drought has led to much of the water drying up, allowing the remaining water to take the temperature of the air more quickly. While disease and sewage contamination are being checked, the hugely high temperature has a huge impact on the bodies of everything living in the water, so even if the eventual death is caused by something else, the heat would likely have killed the dolphins in the near future anyway.

Brazil is not the only country which is struggling in this way, it is happening world wide. It is true that the world has just left the El nino period, which always has higher temperatures, but still, many species like the Amazon dolphins (which is already endangered) cannot face this pressure for long, without being pushed far closer to extinction.

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Sweden began its annual wolf hunt on the first day of the year

I have talked about about wolf hunts in Sweden in the past. They recently reduced the required minimum population from 300 wolves down to 170 – given that the 300 was worked out scientifically (and most people believe that this population is way too small anyway).

The current population is 374, with a target kill this year of 30. The intention is to kill 5 families. However, this number of wolves is certainly not good. Sweden is a country of similar size to France, and much of the country is wild so a far larger population would be capable of not impacting humans.

Campaigners are claiming that this is illegal (and it is hard to argue them) as the Berne convention states that protected species cannot be caused to have their population fall below sustainable numbers – 170 is well below this level, and indeed 300 is likely only healthy long-term, because of wolves crossing over the border from Russia.

I have been lucky enough to see 2 Swedish wolves, one from a bear hide, and the other while watching a group of Elk. Well structured, the wolves in Sweden could be a huge positive for the country, particularly tourism and one would think would be important as Sweden has positioned itself as an ecotourism hotspot.

Without a change, they will destroy this early market which is good for the country.

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US has tightened African elephant trophy import rules but stops short of banning

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 simple reason – a reserve like the Kruger, has a real issue with a growing elephant population, yet at the same time Nigeria has only 400 elephants left. Tanzania has seen a reduction of elephants of 63%, while Mozambique has seen a reduction of 34%.

This new ruling suggests that imports are only allowed from populations which are large enough to support the loss. Now, I would be interested as to how this is worked out. For instance, could I buy a tiny parcel of land, on the edge of a large reserve, and allow any elephants that step on my land to be hunted?

  • Somewhere like the Selous game reserve, would in theory be acceptable for elephant hunting. If we go back to the 1976 there were approaching 109,000 elephants. However that population is now thought to be around 13,000 – hunting should be banned until the population has recovered. If a hunting reserve cannot afford to police well enough to eliminate poaching, it should not be allowed to hunt (the number of poached and hunted elephants must be below safety levels.
  • The Serengeti ecosystem also does not have a large elephant populatino so cannot allow hunting
  • The African forest elephant is considered critically endangered, so none of these elephants should be hunted

 

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Wildcat kittens born outside captivity in Cairngorms

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 to create pockets of Scotland, which would allow these cats to recover.

The natural behaviour of a British wildcat when meeting a feral cat, is to kill it. However, as these animals become rarer, even rare breeding events, can threaten the survival of the whole species. This behaviour also means that with careful planning, we should be able to reintroduce them into other parts of the country. There are a range of other wild predators lost over the last couple of millennia – and I hope to see the others return, but it is thrilling to know that a wildcat is once again living and breeding in its native habitat of the Scottish mountains.

These wildcats are thought to be the first born wild in Scotland for 5 years, after 19 wildcats bred in the Highland wildlife park, were released into the Cairngorms national park.

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Black rhino calf born in Kenya

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 horn does nothing for humans. Never-the-less, this unmet demand for rhino horn, linked with the huge explosion of wealth in places like China, means that rhino horn is incredible valuable. While eastern black rhino horns rarely weigh more than 3kg, this can still be worth $200,000, which is very tempting, in a country where the average salary is under $200 a month.

As living conditions increase in the area, the desire to poach these animals is likely to decrease. Of course, these rhino are also likely to be worth similar amounts in tourism dollars across their lifetime, but that is a long-term thing, and something that the whole area benefits from (rather than the poacher, who is often struggling to make ends meet – though middlemen are instead making a fortune).

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Beavers have been returned to the South-down national park after a 600 year absense

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 sort of duck pond beside it, however, once the beavers get to work, this will change dramatically – turning the pond into a series of ponds, and making it suitable to house a wide variety of British wildlife.

As found elsewhere in the UK, the beavers are likely to have a rapid impact on water quality (for the better). A second pair were introduced to an estate near Basingstoke just last year (they had their first kits in September this year).

As in other parts of the country, these beavers will spread out from where they have been reintroduced (if allowed) and are likely to link up with other populations, such as the Devon beavers, within a small number of years – it seems likely that without a sustained attempt to remove the beaver once again, it is only a matter of time, before they spread to all parts of the UK.

Apart from the joy of knowing they are there, there are many positive impacts of their presence: they will reduce flooding (areas that they do flood with their dams, are places which we likely should not have built anyway), clean water and create habitats for many other creatures. Perversely, they have also been shown to help forests recover (by creating a mosaic of different habitats) and therefore should be a positive for the forestry industry in the UK, despite fears to the contrary.

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EJC has ruled against Austria on wolf hunting

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 1992 EU directive on protecting wildlife, which states that wolf hunting to prevent financial damage can only be done if the population is in a favourable conservation status – something certainly not true in Austria. This condition can only apply to a wolf population which is stable.

I would also suggest that plans to kill 25% of the population each year, should also damage this, but this is a discussion for another day – when the population is far larger than it currently is. Other countries like Holland have similar sized wolf populations, and so this ruling could be applied in a variety of places.

Regional governments have absurdly argued that the wolf is no longer endangered in Austria, and that therefore its protection should be reduced. had the government listened would a ruling similar to the USA have come forward? Such that open season could be declared?

It is a good thing that wolves are so good at holding on, as we have spent much of our time attacking.

It is funny to think, that it is estimated our relationship with wolves (in the form of domesticating them as dogs) likely goes back to a similar point to the advent of growing crops, and well before the time that we started to keep livestock.

Given our fondness of dogs has deeper roots than our fear of wolves, it seems odd, that wolf persecution ever really got underway. It is true that wolf populations do need handling, but their existence is more good than bad. Places like the UK where they are missing, show this (when looked at the situation rationally)

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Plans to turn the Pantanal into a waterway, will destroy this wilderness

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The Pantanal is an incredibly wilderness, however, the Paraguay river is planned to be turned into a water way and build ports. I have included 2 videos for you to look at (depending on how much time you have). The video above is around 4 minutes, while the below is a full documentary 50 minutes.

Continue reading “Plans to turn the Pantanal into a waterway, will destroy this wilderness”
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