Last month, the Slovakian cabinet approved plans to cull around 1 quarter of the bear population in the country (currently at around 1300) after some high profile fatal encounters between humans and bears.
It is unclear what the actual carrying capacity of Slovakia, and indeed this is often the problem. The government decides what the carrying capacity is of the land, they set quotas for hunting them and they reap the money for hunting permits, as well as having to deal with any livestock predation. These different requirements are often lead to different groups having different desires and therefore results can be skewed to support a decision which is not in the best interest of the country or the population.
Having carrying capacity and population size done by truly independent researchers would help with this, but in most countries, this independence is not real, with the government holding the purse strings or similar power over future studies.
A reduction of a quarter, is a large step, will change the population makeup significantly and is likely to greatly disrupt bear tourism to the country.
Tourism revenue for this country has hovered between 1 and 2 billion dollars in recent decades, and while it is hard to pinpoint exactly how much of this is to do with wildlife, and particularly bear tourism, it is thought that a majority do some sort of ecotourism while in the country – therefore care must also be taken to not destroy this important income for the country.
I have missed writing regularly, but have been having some issues with this website. I am hoping that in the near future these will be resolved, and allow the website to reach some of its potential – however for now, back to this article.
The UK is recognized as one of the most nature depleted places on earth. never the less, there is wildlife in the shadow of humans. A very wide range of wildlife has been lost, as humans have not left the space – this is causing us issues, not least because there are no apex predators left.
Wild boar, however, were accidently released – they were bred for meat, and between a variety of escapes and intentional released populations, a wild population has been established in the UK. Domestic pigs are descended from wild boar – it is thouoght that they were domesticated twice, once in the near middle east around 8500 years ago, and again in China around 6500 years ago (though it should be noted that these dates are still pretty unclear. 8500 years is not a long time in genetic evolution, and as such they are still capable to interbreed, even though there is a significant difference in how these two groups live.
There is an estimated 2600 wild boar living in the UK. The largest populations are listed below, though it does not account for all of them
Forest of Dean: This area has the most established and largest wild boar population in the UK. The population is estimated to be around 1,200 animals.
Kent/East Sussex: This area has a population of 250-300 wild boar.
West Dorset: This population is estimated to be over 50 animals.
North Devon: This area has a smaller population, estimated to be between 50 and 100 wild boar.
Wild boar are incredibly important for the health of forests – wild boar turn soil in their search for roots and tubers, and this is perfect for the growth of new seedlings. Boar rootling areas are often full of tree saplings and shoots growing together. It is something that has been missed for a very long time, and the health of forests that the boar returns to is greatly improving.
The area that I live in, has a great deal of army land, and therefore, I believe that the area could support hundreds of boar, if not more.
This individual boar, is likely to be a young roaming male, and usually, the first visitor does not settle within an area, however, females also roam, and should a male and female meet, they are likely to become a breeding pair, and at that point the population can grow fast as a breeding pair (when they have some domestic pig genes in them) potentially having 3 litters of 10 or more a year.
Will a breeding population be established around here? It is still for the time being, chance, however at this breeding rate, it is quite conceivable for boar to be back across the UK within the next couple of decades. Pure wild boar would be better, however adaption back to living in the wild will likely slow their breeding rate relatively fast.
For anyone visiting, I have not gone anywhere. Unfortunately the website has been having a number of issues. We have employed someone to work out what is going on, so we are hoping to be back to normal (or indeed far better than normal) in the near future. Time will tell how well this will work.
I am well aware, that I have been quiet for some time. I am hoping that, that is, coming to an end. I have been working on the members areas, and trying to find a way for those to “blog” important news from their wilderness areas, as well as those areas of interest for other people.
We hope that this is going to arrive within the next few days, but, I am hoping that I will be available to write more regularly in the near future.
As ever, our aim is educate about the natural world and the threats that hurt it, and to create an increasingly complete list of wildernesses around the world, and opportunities to see the wildlife that live within it.
Do get involved, as members (as we move forwards) and in other ways.
Killer whale or Orca: highly intelligent, inquisitive, caring of family, no wonder they fascinate us
The Southern resident killer whale population is on the brink of extinction, but it seems, not for the reason that people thought.
Found along the coast of Washington, Oregon, California, and British Columbia, this population is thought to number just 75, but births are rare, and often end in sadness. 2 calves have been born in the last 2 years, but both have died young. This year, the mother was seen carrying her dead infant for some time (draped across her snout).
It is thought that this population is in danger as a result of a collapse in the Chinook salmon which is an essential part of their diet. However, this theory is defeated, when we look at the Northern resident killer whale population, and notice that they appear to have less access to the salmon. There is lots of shipping noise in their home, which may mean that they are incapable of communicating, which would impact their ability to hunt,
It is true that the origins of their decline lie around 120 years ago, when blackfish (orca as they were then called) were both slaughtered and captured for marine parks. The population on stopped falling fast when Canada banned capture. So is this just the straw that broke the camels back?
Why do captive orca have drooping fins?
Drooping dorsal fins are occasionally seen in the wild, so the split is not totally solid, but it is true, that while most captive orca eventually have a drooping dorsal fin, this is a far rarer site in the wild (while not being unheard of).
The fin is supported by a tough protein called callagen, and it has been suggested that with captive orca spending more time at the surface, the higher temperature from the sun may degrade the protein.
Tahlequah has given birth again (famous for carrying her first calf after it died)
Tahlequah carried a former calf for 17 days after it died, and for more than 1000 miles. This means it is rather lovely to see that she has had another calf. However, the calf has already been observed being pushed by the mother and does not look healthy. The mother is very experienced, so it is hoped that she can succeed, but time will tell. This mother is part of the Southern resident population which i mentioned above, which is small and with few births in recent years. It is therefore very concerning to find that 2 related calves died so close together.
A new video shows a mother orca teaching her calves how to hunt
I should say, that the article I read suggested this was the first time that it had been seen, but the below clip is from several years ago. Even so, it is fascinating to see a mother actively teaching her offspring how to hunt/
Orca have been seen, for the first time off Chile, hunting dolphins
As can be seen from the video above, orca are known to hunt and eat dolphins in various places around the world. However, this behaviour has never been seen in this population, so they had to work out how to do it for themselves. While in the past they have been filmed eating sea lions (and using local boats to hide their approach), they have now been filmed hunting dusky dolphins.
The study was looking at the eating habits of orcas in the southern hemisphere, so as to be able to conserve them more effectively. It suggests that Chile Orca are turning to these food-sources. While Orca have been filmed harrasing or even killing porpoises and dolphins, this is the first time that they have been filmed eating them.
Orca facing uncertain future as the marine zoo shuts
Marineland Antibese near Cannes France, is shutting, after the French government brought in more strict rules of their care. The law was passed in 2021, but comes into force in 2026. It is thought that 90% of the visitors come to see the killer whales and other dolphins, so without them they are not viable.
It is unclear as to what will happen with the Orca. They are from Icelandic waters, but having spent so much time in captivity, would not be able to look after themselves in the wild. A deal had been made to send them to a Japanese park, but there was outcry as their treatment would be worse, so the French government blocked it. There is another zoo in the Canary islands. A facility in Eastern Canada has suggested netting off around 40 hectares of a sea bay for them, where they could live out their lives, in relative comfort, and yet still be looked after by a team of vets and other carers.
Something similar has happened before. Keiko was the orca from the film Free Willy, and was rescued from captivity in 1996 and released into a similar bay in Iceland in 1998. Having spent more time in the wild, though he was able to relearn some skills and in 2002 he left with some wild orca. He swam to Norway, but unfortunately died from an infection in 2003.
While these fuels power much of the creation of electricity around the world, as well as most transport and heating, they all need to either be left in the ground or 100% of their emissions. Below is a roundup of a group of articles of importance on these subjects.
Uk’s £22 billion carbon capture pledge follows surge in lobbying by fossil fuel industry, records show
This is a long-term project. Our hope is that with help the number of destinations will grow fast. For now, I have created this page. Generally, there is a future places section on all country pages, so these can also be accessed from there. The aim here, is for myself (and other people as the site grows) to be able to write pages about specific destinations, before we have any links to help you with your wild travel in that destination.
Now the article (click here to read) goes on and on about this, talking about Musks previous perspective on Hydrogen, the roads being full of this future “stupid fuel” and how this might impact tesla future (suggesting dual fuel would be good – it did not help Toyota).
So, while this article came out in early November, the fact check that I have looked at came out in December (I am sure that there was an earlier one). Click here to read the fact-check but it is outlined below.
It is thought that the rumours came from various online videos and articles, with one specific piece frequently regularly cited. However, despite the fact-checkers tried to find this cited evidence, they were unable to find any about a Model H. Further more, large tech companies did not report this.
Given Elon Musk’s historic disgust on the use of Hydrogen in cars, it should take a lot of evidence to suggest that this was right. Furthermore, the suggestion that Tesla would have fully switched by 2025, rather than offering both is particularly ridiculous.
Is this false story good for Eldario24? Well, clearly it had a moment in the sun, but certainly I will not be bookmarking them. I believe that they should be punished for their behaviour.
Unfortunately, this is an article that does not need much work. Unless we find an insane quantity of hydrogen buried under the ground somewhere (and it would have to be infinite to really count), the question is, how much electricity does it take to make 1kg of hydrogen and how far can the car drive on it? If this is more than an electric car, then perhaps Norway has a point.
Who are these so called experts? What is there expertise in, and do other experts agree? Their expertise does not appear to have much backing it.
This engine weighs just under 11kg, and they believe that, as it delivers better efficiency and emission control, all within a sleek design. In the literature, so much is made of the efficiency of this engine, but that misses the point. They suggest that this efficiency closes the gap between combustion engines and electric ones.
This misses the point: electric cars are zero carbon at use. Therefore, the cleaner the grid gets, the lower the carbon will be. As such, it is all very well to compare electric cars now, to an experimental engine that will be in cars in a generation or two. However, in 2 generations, it is thought that most countries will have further greened their grid, leaving the electric car still ahead.
We drive an electric car, and as we pay our electricity company for 100% clean electricity, our carbon emissions are essentially zero (particularly, as we bought the car second hand). One could, quite rightly, argue that not all the electricity that we use comes from zero carbon electricity – instead, we use whatever electricity is being created at the time. But that is the point- our supplier buys enough zero carbon electricity to cover all our use, therefore, if they were supplying everyone in the country a 100% zero carbon electricity, they would have to buy enough green electricity for everyone. That could only be done by all the electricity in the country being green.
So, in short – suggesting an uber efficient small ICE engine used 10-20 years in the future is more efficient than an electric car driven on the grid now, is not a fair comparison. It is like comparing the price of apples now, to the price of futures in oranges next year. Do not buy into it. If every person in the UK drove an electric car, carbon emissions would be far lower, than if everyone drove the most efficient ICE car that has, or ever will be made (this seems pretty obvious, do not get hoodwinked).
