Wildlife and conservation new, wild travel information and links for booking
Bobcat: This cat is found throughout most of the USA (every state except Delaware) and much of Mexico as well as 5 southern states of Canada. Their population is thought to number between 2.3 million and 3.5 million.
The Bobcat is the smallest of the Lynx family of species, but with 2.2 -3.5 million members spread across northern America, it is the most secure wild cat species.
Climate change effects are not restricted to the third world (though very often the impact is felt more harshly here).
In the USA the volume of water in the Colorado river has fallen by the volume of lake Mead in 23 years – this is the equivalent of 15 billion Olympic sized swimming pools. More than 40 million people rely on this river for their water – along with millions of acres of farm land.
Despite the drought that has hit the area, scientists have calculated that the water loss would not have had anywhere near the effect without the human caused climate change.
This may simply be early signs of things to come in the USA
It would be insane to suggest that the USA has really gone into saving the climate. To the contrary, the USA emits 14% of the world emissions for 4.23% of the population (their constant position is that China needs to act first, China does emit 29% of the carbon dioxide with 17% of the world, but their per capita pollution of China is 7.6 tonnes, verses 13.68 tonnes in the USA (almost twice as much).
So what is on their wish list?
Continue reading “‘Project 2025’ is a US climate policy the right wing is pushing the next Republican to take on – gutting climate and environmental policy. Should Biden declare a climate emergency while he can?”It is back in the 1940s that wolves were last resident in the Grand Canyon national park. This is why it was so exciting that a grey wolf is roaming the northern rim of the grand canyon.
Until last year, in many of the states in the USA, there was little to stop people from keeping big cats as pets.
It is, unfortunately, a fact, that meat eaters create a significant extra quantity of carbon released into the air. How much? Well this varies from place to place, and product to product.
There are an increasingly large number of people who are recognizing this issue. Now while some will argue that without the meat industry, much of the UK farmland would be built on, and that this would be disastrous for the environment are missing the point. We live on an island, and as such it is in our own best interests to make sure that the worlds ice sheets do not melt.
Continue reading “If the US beef industry is deploying tricks similar to fossil fuels and smoking to delay action, what should we do?”With the Colorado river in the north to the Baja peninsula in the south, the sea of Cortez is relatively large and is scattered with around 240 islands. While there is some wildlife to be explored on some of the islands, the seas are also teeming with a wide variety of species. On the surface blue fin humpback and sperm whales can be seen, alongside bottlenose dolphins Guadeloupe fur seals and leaping Mobula rays. There are also a wide variety of sea birds. As well as all this that can be seen from a boat, there is also a large number of coral reefs, meaning it is hugely popular with snorkellers and divers as well.
In 2020, Trump gave responsibility for managing wildlife populations back to the states. Now one might argue that this is the right thing to do, after all it is democracy, but is it?
Many of the states in the USA are horrifically gerrymandered, with some having a small minority overruling the great majority. There are many intentional ways that this is done (republicans have been very good at it over time – there are been 2 times in recent years where democrats got more votes but lost.
Ocelots are often thought of as relatively exotic animal. Looking like a small leopard or Jaguar, this is not particularly surprising. Never-the-less, like their bigger cousin, the jaguar, they are a native cat of the USA.
Road deaths are a significant problem, as with a total population not thought to number more than 60-80, 8 were lost in under a year (2015-2016). Texas has created 27 wildlife crossings, with many in Ocelot areas, but clearly more are needed, along with driver education.
Perhaps more unhelpful, as Ocelots are largely nocturnal, they are usually crossing the road when hardest to see. Once relatively common in the southern USA, just 1% of its optimal habitat remains, and this is criss-crossed by road.
While few animals have been completely exterminated from north America in the last 300 years there are a few on the brink.
One such animal is the Jaguar.
The last known Jaguar roams the Rocky lands of Southern Arizona and is called Sombra. The last known female was shot 60 years ago this year. Conservationists are calling for Jaguars to be reintroduced into the Gila national forest, a 3 million acre wilderness in New Mexico, along with protection for millions more acres which Sombra currently roams.
Continue reading “Returning Jaguars to the USA”