Tag: USA

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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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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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Should Hertz dumping 20,000 electric cars be a warning to car buyers?

So Hertz is downsizing its electric car fleet, just a few years after buying them. Should this put off electric car buyers? Well, I would argue no, and I suspect that Hertz will live to regret this day.

So have Hertz abandoned electric cars? Nope, it is true that in the current climate, they have scaled back their electric buying car program from 100,000 cars to just 50,000 cars, but this is still a significant number.

Given that in the USA they own around 500,000 cars (elsewhere it is mostly franchise so they do not own the cars) suggesting that at the current time, Hertz will have around 10% of its fleet as electric.

What has prompted this? Well, largely a higher cost of repair cost.

The problem for Hertz is simple. They get paid a rate, to rent the car, they save nothing by it being electric, on the other hand, the renter, might save plenty of money, as refueling can be far cheaper (though admittedly, with currently high electric prices on this side of the Atlantic, public chargers are often just as expensive as petrol.

So, no, this does not (as business insider suggests) mean the end of the electric car. In fact, given that they are selling around 20,000 electric cars, it is quite likely that it will boost the number of electric cars in public hands.

It is true, that some fixes are far more than they should be (we have found that) but it is also clear that overall, electric car owners save money. Whether this will accelerate the change or slow it down, time will tell. It is often the case that once experienced few want to go back to a fossil fuel car, so renting them is useful. Unfortunately, given the price, Hertz treated them as premium, which meant this had less affect than might otherwise have been the case.

I think they will come to regret this, the world is going electric, and the transition is accelerating around the world. It seems likely that they will have to reverse this change within a decade.

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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.

Beluga Whale

Beluga Whale

Beluga whales are only found in the arctic and sub-arctic oceans. They are one of just 2 species in their family Monodontidae, and are unique in their genus of Delphinapterus. It is also known as the white whale, the sea canary and the Melon-head (though the melon-headed dolphin is a species of its own, so this name may cause some confusion.

Adaptions it has for the Arctic, include the fact that it is white in colour, allowing it to blend into the white world more effectively, and the fact it has no dorsal fin, which allows it to swim very close to the ice sheet above.

Growing up to 5.5m in length and up to 1600kg they are a pretty large dolphin. Generally, living in groups of around 10, in the summer, they group together in their hundreds or thousands.

The worlds population is thought to be around 200,000, Some populations move from the edge of the ice cap, into rivers in warmer areas, while others stay around the ice caps year round. Groups of people in both USA and Russia have hunted them for many centuries.

Hunting is not controlled, and as such the drop in population could happen quite fast. Russia and Greenland have killed enough to drop their local population significantly, though thankfully not Alaska or Canada.

They do also have their natural predators in both the killer whale and the Polar bear.

They are the most commonly kept cetaceans in the world, with around 300 in captivity. Japan, USA, Ukraine, Canada, China and Russia as well as a few more.

There are 22 populations around the world, these vary from 39,000 down to as little as 500. The total population is around 200,000. While this number is large, the number hunted is definitely not sustainable. There is also no care to distinguish the different populations, which suggests that sub-populations could be pushed to extinction without any care.

Below, you will find a clip from a bbc documentary which features this species. Below this, is a list of any mentions that the beluga whale has had on this site. Below this, I will list any opportunities to see this species in the wild. Click on list your wild place, to list yours. It takes just a few minutes, and costs nothing – we only charge a commission on any business we send your way.

African Dwarf crocodile

African dwarf crocodile

The dwarf crocodile (also known as the African dwarf crocodile, broad-snouted crocodile -a name more often used for the Asian mugger crocodile) or bony crocodile), is an African crocodile that is also the smallest living species of crocodile.

Found in lowlands to mid-height areas, in small and mid-size streams (they avoid large rivers). Generally, they live in rivers that lie in rainforest, though they will venture into the open.

They are known, in places, to be found in pools deeply isolated in Savannah. In western Gabon, there are also a group which have been living long-term in caves. It is considered vulnerable by the IUCN and is Appendix i of CITES. Where they are declining, it appears largely as a result of deforestation and hunting for the bushmeat trade. As a result, while in some regions they have a healthy population, in others (like Gambia and Liberia) they are almost lost.

In zoos in the USA and Europe there are a few of this species, however, records are not good, and quite a few of them are clearly hybrids with little conservation use. I should note, a zoo I occasionally volunteer at (marwell zoo) had one of these crocodiles until last year when it went to another zoo for breeding.

We hope to be able to list places for you to visit to see this species as soon as possible. Any of these will appear below the video and the news section (this lists all the times that this species has been mentioned (if any) in this blog). Below this, we will list all the easiest places we have connections to, to see this species.

 

brown Bear

Brown bear

With it’s range originally encompassing the whole of Europe, much of Asia, most of North America and the atlas mountains of Africa (the only native African bear), it has unfortunately been in decline for some time. These days the bear habitat consists of Alaska and parts of Canada as well as northern regions of the USA, relict populations in Western Europe though they still have a stronghold in Eastern Europe and and Russia as well as sections of central Asia. Highly intelligent they have never lived at high densities, as members high on the the food chain, few places can support large populations for long. With their impressive intelligence, and inquisitive nature, the can be tough to live alongside. With all that in mind brown bear watching can be an enjoyable pastime in many different places. Around much of the world there are newer hides in places that bears still exist – these allow you to watch bears in their natural habitat. We currently only have one listed (it’s will with a visit, link below) but we are always keen to list many more.

There are many places where bears live happily live alongside humans and are rarely seen.

Over time we hope to list many places where you can visit bears and see them in their wild home. These will be done by country (visit the tabs below). Below this, is a list of any articles that have been written on this species, below that will be links that we have to see bears yourself.

Spanish bears have done incredibly well, over the last few decades. There are 2 areas of the country where the bears exist. One is in the Pyrenees, and the other was in the Cantabria mountains. In the 1990s

Cantabria

The Cantabria bears population fell to just 50 bears in 2 populations in the mid 1990s, though oddly hunting was banned in 1973, so it took around 20 years for the population to stop falling – put down to illegal hunting and poaching  (I am not sure what the difference is between illegal hunting and poaching (the difference is that poaching often catches the animal alive). What was more concerning, was that there was only a handful of breeding females in the whole population. This population has grown very fast, the current population officially is around 370 strong (250 in the west, and 120 in the east with a gap of 40-50km however, it has been shown that bears have been moving from the large to the smaller population with relative regularity suggesting it cannot be too hard). Many people suggest that the population might be as high as 500 (It is good to under-estimate the population, as it allows the population to naturally grow to its previous size).

Pyrenees

The Pyrenees mountain chain run along the border between France and Spain, and in the early 20th century, there were around 150 bears in this population. This was reduced to 70 by 1954. By the 1990s, bears were missing from the central Pyrenees, which split the population, making both populations too small to retain significant genetic variability. In 1996, the French government introduced 3 bears from Slovenia (these are exactly the same subspecies, and the population was only split in modern times. Before this, there was just 7-8 living in the western part of the mountain range. Further reintroductions were made:  five in 2006, and two in 2018. This new genetic material, allowed the population to recover, and at the current time, the Pyrenees population is estimated at 83 as of 2023. In recent times, the bear population has been growing at 11% per year. Being spread along the border, it is impossible to clearly differentiate a Spanish population and a French population.

While not an image of the bear in particular, likely very similar

In May 2019, a brown bear was spotted in Portugal for the first time since 1843, confirming the return of the species to the country. The bear was spotted in Montesinho Natural Park, in the Bragança region of northeast Portugal, close to the Spanish border. The bear likely came from the western Cantabrian Mountains in Spain, where the brown bear population is slowly increasing. This is perfectly normal behaviour, as the male bears disperse some distance to avoid inbreeding.

Having said this, when I was there back 5 years earlier, 3 bears were being seen from time to time, around the Sierra de Culebra, right on the Portuguese border. As such, it is quite likely that bears have been crossing this border for some time, even if locals were unaware.

Given time, it is quite conceivable that this population will grow and become a permanent presence in the country – so long as it is allowed to be. It should be noted, that while bears can be a nuisance, it is an opportunistic omnivore. Eating mainly plants, roots, fruit, berries and nuts, its mostly vegetarian diet is supplemented by insects, eggs, honey, fungi and carrion. Given the presence of wolves in Portugal, the bear is capable of living alongside humans far easier than wolves. It is true that they have an annoying habit of breaking into bee hives, but that is little compared to the occasional livestock kill.

French bears have not done well, having come to the edge of extinction before a number of bears were translocated to the mountain range from Slovenia.

Pyrenees

The Pyrenees mountain chain run along the border between France and Spain, and in the early 20th century, there were around 150 bears in this population. This was reduced to 70 by 1954. By the 1990s, bears were missing from the central Pyrenees, which split the population, making both populations too small to retain significant genetic variability. In 1996, the French government introduced 3 bears from Slovenia (these are exactly the same subspecies, and the population was only split in modern times. Before this, there was just 7-8 living in the western part of the mountain range. Further reintroductions were made:  five in 2006, and two in 2018. This new genetic material, allowed the population to recover, and at the current time, the Pyrenees population is estimated at 83 as of 2023. In recent times, the bear population has been growing at 11% per year. Being spread along the border, it is impossible to clearly differentiate a Spanish population and a French population.

There were once bears in the French alps as well, but the last one was shot in 1936. There are bears in the alps, but it appears that there is not a permanent

Pyrenees

The Pyrenees mountain chain run along the border between France and Spain, and in the early 20th century, there were around 150 bears in this population. This was reduced to 70 by 1954. By the 1990s, bears were missing from the central Pyrenees, which split the population, making both populations too small to retain significant genetic variability. In 1996, the French government introduced 3 bears from Slovenia (these are exactly the same subspecies, and the population was only split in modern times. Before this, there was just 7-8 living in the western part of the mountain range. Further reintroductions were made:  five in 2006, and two in 2018. This new genetic material, allowed the population to recover, and at the current time, the Pyrenees population is estimated at 83 as of 2023. In recent times, the bear population has been growing at 11% per year. Being spread along the border, it is impossible to clearly differentiate a Spanish population and a French population on the French sideof the mountain range.

While Switzerland does not have a resident population of brown bears, there are occasional sightings of bears that immigrate from Italy. The last indigenous bear in Switzerland was shot in 1904.
Bear plan
In 2006, Switzerland implemented a “bear plan” to promote coexistence between humans and bears. This plan includes killing bears that pose a risk to humans, such as those that frequently enter human settlements. Having said this, in practice, in recent years, it has often meant that any bear which enters Switzerland and does not leave quick enough has been targeted. Thankfully being wild animals, they have often left on their own
Bear sightings
Bears have been spotted in the cantons of Bern, Grisons, Lucerne, Nidwald, Obwald, Schwyz, Ticino, Uri, and Valais.

The notorious brown bear known as M13 has been killed. He was shot in the early hours of Tuesday, after it proved impossible to keep him away from human settlements, the Federal Office for the Environment announced on Wednesday. M13 was the only bear known to have been living in Switzerland. 

A male bear born in Italy in 2013, M29 is believed to have crossed into Switzerland in April 2016. He was spotted a few times before disappearing in September 2017. It is not clear what happened, but very often when a bear disappears, that means that it has been illegally killed (though we can hope he simple left of his own accord).

 

The Marsican brown bear is one of the surviving populations of bears in western Europe. At the current time, there are an estimated 50-60 bears living in the mountains, though only 10-12 of these are females of breeding age. In 1980s there were 100 bears in this region. However, if we could reduce the death rate, each breeding female, is capable of producing up to 3 bear cubs, every couple of years. This means that we can expect as high as 15 bear cub births a year, or an increase of 25% in the population.

The Marsican brown bear, also known as the Apennine brown bear, lives in a range of about 5,000 to 8,000 square kilometers in the Apennine Mountains of Italy. This range includes:

  • The Abruzzo-Lazio-Molise National Park
  • The Sibillini National Park
  • The Gran Sasso-Laga National Park
  • The Majella National Park
  • The Velino-Sirente National Park
  • The Simbruini Regional Park
The other brown bear population was reintroduced to Trentino from Slovenia. This population has grown to over 100 bears. It should be noted, that Slovenia, is directly to the right of this part of Italy, so it is quite possible that at some point, the bears might have migrated to the area naturally. These reintroductions started in 1999 and continued for around 5 years. Only 10 bears were moved, suggesting an impressive rate of recovery.
It should be noted, that while the Marsican bear has a tourist industry around it, as of yet there is far less around the Trentino bear population.

Having gone extinct back in the 19th century, one might wonder why I have included it on this list. The closest population is in trentino in Italy, however, there have been many reported sightings, and given bears habits of dispersing hundreds of miles, this is not impossible to believe. While likely a shock to the people of Germany, and possible that the German government would choose to kill any bears that settled, Germany has plenty of wild space, after all, the country now hosts 1200 wolves.

Brown bears are roaming into the country, with increasing frequency, but  none have as yet settled within the country.

However, while there is less wilderness in Hungary than many ccountries in Europe, meaning this population can only grow slowly.

Polar Bear

Polar bear

  • A relatively new species of bear, the polar bear is the only species adapted for polar life. Still being found all around the Arctic, there are roughly 26,000 in the wild at the current time. Whalers and for traders killed many in the 19th century, and while they have recovered experts predict that global warming is likely to lead to the extinction of the polar bear.

Polar bears are distant cousins of the Grizzly bear, and as the weather warms, polar bears are moving south and Grizzlies north. This has on at least one occasion created a so called “Pizzly”. We only know about this, because a hunter who paid to kill a polar bear accidentally shot the Pizzly. I have made it clear my lack of appreciation for the so called hunter – while I am ready to admit that in places the money is useful for conservation, I hope that with your help and this website, we might make it an irrelevance.

Found throughout the arctic, they can be seen in 

  • Alaska (USA) 4000-7000
  • Canada   16,000
  • Greenland 3500-4000
  • Norwegian islands, particularly Svalbard about 3000
  • Russia:22,000-31,000 (note, this adds up to far to many – indeed Russias population alone is above the world population, also some are shared between countries)

Over time we hope to list many places where you can visit bears and see them in their wild home, these will appear here, and a list of posts we have published on bears will appear below these links

Cougar (Puma, mountain-lion, Catamount even Panther)

A mountain-lion photographed in Glacier national park, by the national parks service

Cougar, Puma or mountain-lion

This cat is a large cat that is native to much of North and South America, second only to the Jaguar.

For most classifications, the cougar misses out on being a big cat, as it does not have the vocal structure to roar, as the others do.

It is largely solitary, and is generally a nocturnal or crepuscular cat (that is active at night or in the early morning and late evening). They have been persecuted since the colonization of north America by the Europeans, which has lead to patchy coverage. The Eastern Cougar is extinct, except for a sub-population called the Florida Panther which is isolated from any other Cougars. It is in better state in the west of the USA. In Southern and central America, it is still found in every country. In fact, it holds a classification of being the most widespread mammal to be found in the Western hemisphere.

It is a close relative of the Cheetah, which is believed to have initially evolved in the USA before migrating into Asia and Africa. The only animal which shares the same clade is the jaguarundi is the cougar, though the larger family called a Lineage and does include the cheetah

Ocelot

An Ocelot photo by RawheaD Rex

Ocelot

Ocelots, servals are about the size of domestic cats, which mean that without being careful it is easy to overlook them. Found throughout the south west of the USA, Mexico, and on through central and South America, as well as the Caribbean island of Margarita and Trinidad. At this time, two subspecies of Ocelot are recognized (in the past as much as 9 subspecies were proposed) and these are essentially split by continent (a north America Ocelot and a Southern America Ocelot).

Researchers agree that there are around 120 wild Ocelots in Texas but elsewhere it is less clear. Indeed, the Ocelot is generally listed as least concern, though in various parts of its range it is threatened by habitat destruction, hunting or traffic accidents. As such while its range is very large there are areas where it is decreasing in an area of its range. The ocelot has had occasional association with humans dating back as far as the Incas and the Aztecs – and has occasionally been kept as a pet.

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