Invasive species – See Animals Wild

May 1, 2023April 27, 2023

The future of the Pine marten in the UK

Before humans started cutting down the forests of the UK, the pine marten was likely one of the most common carnivores in the UK. This voracious arboreal hunter is the reason that our resident squirrel is so acrobatic – these skills would likely be tested every day.

Indeed, pine martens are less widely spread in the USA which is likely one of the reasons that grey squirrels are so incapable of surviving alongside pine martens. Thus, in the UK we have this perverse situation within the UK, where the only refuge of the red squirrel (apart from small islands which can be cleared more easily) are areas of the country where pine martens also survive on.

In the UK, it has been long known that pine martens survive in Scotland. Protection of their forests must improve if we are to hold onto them for longer.

October 3, 2022September 26, 2022

Dealing with invasive Wallabies in New Zealand

New Zealand has no native land mammals. There are mammals that swim to new Zealand, or indeed that fly there, but all the land mammals are non native. Unfortunately with no mammals there are also no predators to control, it is also unfortunately true that in most cases introduced predators take the native flightless birds far more than the non-native mammals.

There are currently thought to be millions of wallabies living free on both of New Zealand. Finally pest control have started to try to deal with these. One pest controller can kill 100 wallabies in a good night. As elsewhere, these wallabies are causing problems, causing local plants to die and get pushed towards extinction.

It is estimated that by 2025 the cost to New Zealand could be costing $84 million a year in damaged ecosystems and lost agricultural revenue.

February 17, 2021July 1, 2022

Pablo Escobar’s zoo’s hippo population has grown from about 30 to between 65 and 80 – what might happen in the future?

Pablo Escobar was a drug kingpin in Columbia. Extraordinarily successful he had the money for some pretty impressive personal items including a zoo. Rather alarmingly, when Pablo Escobar’s rein over his crime and drug empire ended, his zoo was not looked after. A variety of things happened to the animals, but the hippos were largely left in the wild to their own devices.

The problem is that with vast amounts of food and no natural predators in numbers have multiplied rapidly and is currently thought to fall between 65 and 80.

February 5, 2020May 13, 2020

Columbia’s invasive hippos: the biggest invasive species in the world

Pablo Escobar was an extraordinarily successful drug Kingpin in Colombia, because of the standards law enforcement in Colombia he was able to demonstrate his well through extravagant spending without worrying if he would be challenged.

October 4, 2018May 14, 2020

News in Brief – Beluga whale spotted in the Thames, Japanese knotweed invasion and Praying Mantises

Beluga whale spotted in the Thames

A Beluga whale, a species usually found in the arctic region, has been spotted in the Thames estuary a few miles from London. As the Thames is a river it is fresh water not salt and therefore not normally the place to find whales or dolphins. Furthermore until recently it was so dirty that none of these animals will come close. However in 2006 the northern bottlenose whale was sighted in the Thames unfortunately the animal died eventually. Continue reading “News in Brief – Beluga whale spotted in the Thames, Japanese knotweed invasion and Praying Mantises”