Tag: Ecosystem

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‘Sky islands’ in Africa are producing more new species than anywhere else

Sky islands like this one Mount Lico in Mozambique

Sky islands are found across much of Africa. Our experience of sky islands, occurred within the Udzungwa national park in Tanzania. This national park protects a large portion of the Eastern arc mountains. – a chain of mountains which run across Eastern Tanzania.

Africa started drying out around 5500 years ago, and much changed at this point, including a great expansion of the Sahara. However, what is relevant here, is that in many parts of the continent, this caused the rainforests to retreat. More rain falls on higher ground, so you were left with a situation where the tops of hills and mountains remain forested, but the valleys become savannahs. Perhaps one of the most notable effects of this, was to split the worlds mountain gorillas into two populations, one in the Bwindi impenetrable forest in Uganda and the other in the Virunga ecosystem. At their closest point, these two protected areas are only 20km apart (though driving between the two are likely to take longer, as visitor facilities are not at these points). Unfortunately, this space between the two areas has a large human population. This means that the two mountain gorilla populations were stuck on their respective mountain homes, relatively close together, but with no way to cross the gap between.

Not researched until recently, there is a strip of mountains that runs from northern Mozambique to Malawi’s Mount Mulanje. As with the eastern arc mountains, rainforest was preserved on these peaks. These were finally given scientific attention by an internatiional team in the South East Africa Montane Archipelago study. While archipelagos are usually used to refer to a group of islands, it seems apt here. Among these mountains, there are around 30 fragmented pockets of grasslands and evergreen forests that have been largely cut off from each other.

This is perfect for housing unique collections of species, that have found themselves cut off from other habitat that they once roamed. This study, identified 90 species from amphibians(11), reptiles(22), birds(3), mammals(4), butterflies(39) and freshwater crabs(6), alongside 127 species of plant, not found anywhere else on earth. These sky islands are even being considered for their own ecoregion.

Big or small, it is important to protect these little ecological islands, and it should be possible to have tourists visit to give an extra income to locals.

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Palm oil deforestation continues in the Leuser ecosystem

Ulu Masen forest, Aceh, Indonesia photo credit:Abbie Trayler-Smith CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

The Leuser ecosystem is one of the most biodiverse in the world, and is the only place where tiger orangutans elephants and rhino can all be found in the same place (and this ignores various special species such as bears and gibbons among many others, which still call this ecosystem home).

This deforestation, carried out to create palm oil plantations, is even occurring within a national park – somewhere where the rules means that a plantation cannot be given a licence. 2 new palm oil processing mills have sprung up near the deforesting concessions: keeping these supplied may well, now be driving further deforestation. Below is a 219 second documentary on this fascinating ecosystem.

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Just how endangered is the Vanuatu dugong? First survey since 1988 underway

The quiet bays in the Melanesian archipelago are perfect for the sea grass meadows, which in turn means that it is fantastic for dugongs – animals also known as sea cows. Just a few years ago, these animals were a regular sight. Growing up to 4m long and 400kg, just a few years ago, it would not be an unusual day when you would see one of these animals in both the morning and afternoon. Now they are rarely seen.

Officially, they are only classed as vulnerable (one of the lowest forms of endangered), but given how long it has been, it is unclear how the population is doing. However, unfortunately, given fishermen (and other people on the wate), are encountering them so rarely, it is likely to have got worse. Dogongs in this area behave differently to Australia where they have huge seagrass meadows, so this full survey is certainly required.

Read more: Just how endangered is the Vanuatu dugong? First survey since 1988 underway

It would be another area, where a growth in the ecotourism industry (ethical – not damaging the animals or stressing them) could be fantastic. Many surveys done on sea mammals, take on tourists to reduce their cost. Personally, I will always look for a research boat, as they want to be there, and will not go out if there is no chance of sightings.

The next-door population of New Caledonia was recently downgraded to endagered, and the east African population is classed as critically endangered.

Globally, the threats to these animals include gill-net fishing, boat traffic, coastal development and even hunting. Unfortunately, climate change is also a threat – rainstorms are becoming far more common, and these are damaging the seagrass, alongside cyclones.

Currently, it is estimated that the world looses 7% of its seagrass meadows each year. This should be concerning, as sea grass has a roughly equal ability to draw down carbon dioxide to land rainforests – so the more we loose the harder it will become to halt global warming. It should also be noted, seagrasses grow more healthily with dugongs present – help keep seagrass beds healthy by grazing on them, which controls their growth and disperses their seeds. This process is called “cultivation grazing”. The benefits on seagrasses include growth control (rapid growth can be bad for the long-term survival of the seagrass), disperse seeds (often with some ‘fertilizer’, which can help the seeds grow particularly well- and like various plants and elephants, seeds that have gone through a dugongs digestive tract is more likely to grow than those that do not), Improve genetic diversity (dugongs move between areas of the meadow, and take seeds with them) and help recovery after cyclones (by connecting areas of the meadow, reseeding meadows in danger from elsewhere where they are doing alright).

Unfortunately, this makes the dugong a keystone species – therefore, its loss would have a very negative impact on the whole ecosystem. Other species that rely on seagrass including sea turtles, manatees, a wide array of fish, many sharks are born in the seagrass, including lemon sharks nurse sharks, and bull sharks. A wide array of birds are similarly reliant.

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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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Hundreds of giant tortoises have returned to the wild across the Galapagos

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 survival is more likely – with 560 animals returned to the wild in 2023 (it should be noted, that wild this is an impressive number, at that rate, it would take several centuries for the population to fully recover).

The project (Iniciativa Galapagos) aims to rewild 15 species across the range, including the giant tortoise, iguana and wandering tortoise.

Continue reading “Hundreds of giant tortoises have returned to the wild across the Galapagos”
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America is following in Europe’s footsteps, with their recovering brown bears – now they are moving into human areas

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 is a problem with this. Both in and out of Alaska (as well as Canada) these bears need space, and so are colonizing land that they previously roamed. Unfortunately, people rapidly forget how to live with animals like grizzly bears, so it is taking some significant work to live alongside these large animals once again.

The problem is, that when those encounters spike, generally authorities panic, and this generally leads to them looking to allow hunting once again. THIS IS DESPITE THE FACT THAT THE POPULATION IS NO-WHERE NEAR RECOVERED AT THE CURRENT TIME.

Continue reading “America is following in Europe’s footsteps, with their recovering brown bears – now they are moving into human areas”
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As water buffalo return, they are revitalizing the kizilirmak delta – formerlly destroyed by becoming industrial wastelands

There are many species around the world which are so important to their habitat, that even a reduction in the population can cause problems – this is one of them. After tadpoles have lost their tails, many will climb onto the hairy back of the water buffalo, getting a ride to other rich feeding areas (and the buffalo gets any irritating flies eaten). There can be as many as 20 frogs on each water buffalo.

Water buffalo were first domesticated 3000 years ago, in Asia, but have proved to be so useful, there are now 200 million spread across 77 countries, on 5 continents. Initially considered as useful animals for plough and similar farm work, in recent times, it has been recognized for its ecosystem engineer duties.

Thriving in wetlands, they can force their way through places that other herbivores fail. While they are not native to many of their current homes, they are capable of filling ecological niches that have long been empty after the initial large cattle like animals were killed off, or all taken into captivity. It should be noted, that in some places, like Australia, there are few to no predators, to control such a large animal, which has lead to a population of 200,000. There is a native water buffalo (Anatolian).

A variety of characteristics help this species to easily fill the ecological niche of the European water buffalo (lost around 10,000 years ago). From transporting seeds in their fur, they fill in many of the roles that the extinct European water buffalo did in the long past. Even in places like the UK, which is one of the most nature depleted countries, the water buffalo are replacing long extinct species, and recovering ecosystems as a result.

This sort of behaviour has to be carefully managed, as in many places, introducing a closely related species can be very costly. In the UK, the grey squirrel has decimated the population of the native red squirrel, and this is not an isolated example, with many others from around the world. However, so long as their effect is closely managed, and there is not a closer relation to the missing species, the impact is likely to be a net positive. Over the last 50 years, 1/3 of the worlds wetlands have been lost, these species, when carefully managed, are likely to be able to bring some of this back.

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How did the wolf disappear from Holland and why is it back

A wolf couple, photographed in Holland

The wolf disappeared from Holland around 1870, though their decline was rapid – in 1760 (just over 100 years before) people in Brabant talked of a wolf plague). In 2015, the wolf was first sighted in Holland, and while some people had said that Holland was to densly populated to allow the wolf to return, this seemed to be wrong. Wolves have returned to many of the countries around Holland, and so it seems quite odd to think that it wasn’t considered that they would cross into Holland.

In 2022, there were thought to be 4 packs of wolves (including 16 pups) as well as an individual wolf. This number has, however, grown fast in the time since, and the current number is thought to be 9 packs. What is even more exciting, it is predicted that the country can support between 23 and 56 wolf packs at a minimum – which as a wolf pack contains 6-7 wolves on average, means a total population of between 138 and 392. It should be noted, that this number is not likely to remain genetically healthy into the long-term, however Germany has a wolf population of over 1000, and while these are mostly based in the East of the country, wolves disperse great distances, so it is likely that genetic material will arrive naturally, relatively regularly. There is also a founding (if small) population of wolves in Belgium, thought to number between 15 and 24 (it is also predicted to grow by 30% a year.

There is a problem, the Hoge-Velue is one of Hollands biggest reserves, but it is owned privately. They have decided that wolves are not welcome, and are making efforts to kill those that get through their fence. This is because, without the wolf, deer are easily seen within the reserve, and they believe that the number of tourists will dry up, if it becomes hard to see the red deer, as well as the roe deer and boar.

I find this attitude rather baffling and perverse. Furthermore, when we were there last year, we spent time in the government owned reserve, which borders the Hoge-Velue, this is government owned, and wolves have settled here. I spent a number of nights within the reserve in a hide. I did not get to see a wolf (though I met a local who had a wide range of fantastic shots he had taken over the previous years), but while watching and waiting in the hide, I saw red and roe deer, as well as wild boar, in significant numbers. The idea that someone would believe that the amount of tourism visiting after wolves return would decrease, seems quite contrary to what usually happens elsewhere.

Wolves are a part of Hollands animal food web, and while it is likely to take some time to get used to living with them present once again, it is going to allow the whole ecosystem to thrive. I feel frustrated, that in the UK, we do not have a similar situation, where wolves can simply wander across an unmarked border. I do believe that in the end, wolves will return to the UK (our food web is horrifically out of balance because of a lack of predators), however, on the last occasion that it was debated, numbers from a very specific country were used to block any further discussion (Click here to read a previous article on this subject, or visit the wolf page here to get a complete list of all occasions that they have been mentioned on this site)

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Golden Jackal found in France for the first time

Golden jackals are not native to France, probably as a result of of the presence of wolves. Unfortunately, wolf populations have dropped so low, that their presence is not stopping the spread of animals like this.

In this instance, the female was too young to have arrived on its own, suggesting that not only are golden jackals present, but they are breeding.

We will have to watch this space, and see what is happening. Will the recovering wolf population stop the spread, or are golden jackals going to become a permanent part of west Europe’s fauna?

To read more about golden jackals visit our golden jackal page here

Aardvark

Aardvark

The Aardvark is an incredibly rarely seen animal. It is found on the savannahs of Africa, and generally lives well in and out of protected areas. It is quite a sizable aniimals, and has relatively high densities throughout its range (roughly 1 per square km in habitats that it is best suited to).

So why is it so rare to see this animal? They are one of the most exclusively nocturnal species that you can find. These are animals for which wildlife guides get excited.

The name, translated from Afrikaans means earth-pig. They are incredible diggers, and many of the burrows in the savannah are dug by them, who ever ends up using them.

The are insect eaters, and are well suited. Their claws are strong, allowing them to dig into the incredibly hard termite mounds, it has a long tongue of around 30cm, which they can direct down ant holes to get hold of their food. They have an incredible sense of smell and hearing to allow them to find the animals, and can shut their eyes and nose so as to avoid being attacked back.

Although rarely seen, there are places which have learnt how to watch them, giving you a great chance to see an animal few know about. Over recent decades, they have started appearing in zoos, with Colchester in the UK (should you visit, it is a species that needs patience, otherwise you are likely to just see a pile of aardvarks sleeping in their burrow.

It is at the top of animals I would like to see in the wild. Given, their range both in and out of reserves, I am hoping over time to build up plenty of places to see them out in the human world. Please get in touch if you are a farmer, who has these on your land.

Any of the savannah ecosystems on our wild places list will host these animals, however a great deal of luck will be needed to see them in the wild. However, we will add an special places we find where your odds are higher. For now, click here, if you want to visit a savannah ecosystem in the near future.

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