Positive Wildlife News 2024

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UngulateNerd92

UngulateNerd92

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Rare Malleefowl nest detected at South Australian sanctuary

A team of scientists has recorded evidence that a rare bird, the Malleefowl, is breeding at Dakalanta Wildlife Sanctuary on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula (Nauo Country) for the first time in decades. Ecologists from Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) were conducting routine biodiversity surveys in October when they stumbled across one of the huge mound nests made by the ground-dwelling birds.

The discovery surprised AWC Senior Field Ecologist Keith Bellchambers, who first spotted the mound. “I was just wandering through the mallee recording all the regular birds when I came across this big mound of dirt,” he said. “I thought to myself – that doesn’t look like a wombat burrow!”

AWC ecologists carry out biodiversity surveys annually at Dakalanta to assess the sanctuary’s overall ecological health and the status of threatened species. Bird surveys have confirmed 89 species on the sanctuary to date, including the Copperback Quail-thrush, Shy Heathwren, Yellow-plumed Honeyeater and Emu. The Malleefowl, a nationally listed threatened species, was first recorded at Dakalanta in 2022.

Malleefowl nest discovered at Dakalanta
 
Pallas’s cat’s sightings become more common in Ladakh
  • With more tourists, including photographers from around the country and the world, visiting Ladakh, reported sightings of the woolly Pallas’s cat have increased.
  • Additionally, research suggests that Pallas’s cats reproduce more readily when prey is abundant so increased availability may be linked to their increasing presence, though scientists are uncertain about the linkage. Prey overall is limited but may have increased in certain parts, they speculate.
  • The Pallas’s cat is a cold-adapted species, about the size of a domestic cat. It inhabits the high peaks of the Himalayas and was named after Peter Simon Pallas, who first described it in 1776 based on specimens collected near Lake Baikal, Russia.
While on patrol in Ladakh’s Hanle village, in 2002, Khenrab Phuntsog, now a 45-year-old wildlife guard with the Ladakh forest department, spotted a cat-like creature descending the hillside. “When I viewed it through binoculars, its shape resembled a cat’s. Its thick, woolly, and dark-coloured fur set it apart, making it distinct from any cat I had seen before. Because of its fluffy fur, this cat appeared larger than its actual size.”

https://india-mongabay-com.cdn.ampp...sightings-become-more-common-in-ladakh/?amp=1
 
UngulateNerd92 said:
Pallas’s cat’s sightings become more common in Ladakh
  • With more tourists, including photographers from around the country and the world, visiting Ladakh, reported sightings of the woolly Pallas’s cat have increased.
Click to expand...

Bit of a flawed premise to report a population increase on - if people are flocking to the area to specifically look for Pallas' Cat, of course the sightings are going to jump. If 50 people all report a vagrant bird from the same location, it's still one bird - an increase in sightings is not necessarily indicative of a population increase, often merely that more eyes looking sees the same animals more often.
 
Western Australia bans commercial native logging in move state says could save 20,000 sq km of forest

The end of unsustainable commercial logging in Western Australia could save almost 20,000 square kilometres of forest, the state government says.

Chopping down native karri, jarrah and wandoo hardwood in the state’s south-west and selling it is banned from Monday. The state’s environment minister, Reece Whitby, said it was a historic moment for WA.

“Our state is now one of the first in Australia to end native logging, a move which will promote conservation and resilience throughout our natural environment,” he said.

Under the new forest management plan 2024-2033, native timbers can only be felled for ecological thinning to enhance forest health and resilience from drought and bushfires.

https://amp-theguardian-com.cdn.amp...e-state-says-could-save-20000-sq-km-of-forest
 
Japanese butterfly conservation takes flight when integrated with human communities
  • A brilliant blue butterfly species has been declining in Japan as the grassland-mimicking agricultural landscapes its host plant relies on fade, due to urban migration, the ageing of the population, and the nation importing food from abroad.
  • The key lies in preserving this traditional landscape called satoyama, a mosaic of various ecosystems like grasslands, woodlands and human uses such as farms and rice fields.
  • Researchers with the University of Tokyo have teamed up with the town of Iijima in Nagano prefecture and a local agricultural cooperative to maintain this mixed landscape while reintroducing populations of the butterfly, whose population has grown.
  • Though it seems counterintuitive, there are many successful global projects connected via the International Partnership for the Satoyama Initiative, which prevent human-dominated landscapes from reverting naturally to ecosystem types like forests that rare species aren’t adapted to.
Since the last ice age, a butterfly species called the Reverdin’s blue (Plebejus argyrognomon, known as miyamashijimi in Japanese), has survived in the nation’s grasslands maintained by human agricultural activities. But as the country’s population ages and leaves the countryside, letting the seminatural grasslands change to forests, the butterfly is now endangered.

https://news-mongabay-com.cdn.amppr...-human-communities-in-their-conservation/amp/
 
These three US long-distance trails are now national parks

Three scenic trails in the northern United States have new status as National Park System sites.

The Ice Age, New England and North Country national scenic trails were previously administered by the National Park Service as part of the National Trails System.

They’re now part of the National Park System, bringing the total number of units from 425 to 428, according to an NPS news release. The system includes more than 25 naming designations, including national scenic trail, national seashore, national monument and so on. The 400-plus sites are commonly referred to as “parks.” There are 63 sites with “national park” in their name – blockbusters such as Grand Canyon National Park and Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

National scenic trails: These three US trails are now national parks | CNN
 
NFWF grants aid 73,000-acre conservation effort in Michigamme Highlands

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation today announced $5.6 million in 10 grants through Walmart’s Acres for America program that will help to permanently protect more than 148,000 acres of wildlife habitat across nine states. The grants will leverage $107.3 million in public and private matching funds for a total conservation impact of $112.9 million.

https://www.michigan.gov/dnr/about/...e-conservation-effort-in-michigamme-highlands
 
Extinct In The Wild Antelope Brought Back From Brink Of Extinction

Scimitar horned oryx downlisted to endangered by IUCN – marks first species in global Extinct in the Wild initiative to be downlisted

An antelope whose species was declared Extinct in the Wild has today been downlisted to endangered – the direct result of a globally coordinated effort supported by our international conservation charity.

The scimitar horned oryx, (Oryx dammah), also called the Sahara oryx, was once widespread across North Africa, but in the 1980’s the population began to plummet - largely due to the antelopes being hunted for their horns and meat. In 2000, the species was declared Extinct in the Wild by the IUCN Red List.

Today, thanks to a conservation partnership coordinated by the Environment Agency of Abu Dhabi (EAD) which we support, its fate has been reversed – the first species from our Extinct in the Wild global initiative to be downlisted.

Extinct in the Wild antelope brought back from brink of extinction] | ZSL
 
New Island Lake Wilderness Area Among 14,000 More Hectares Now Protected

An area outside Halifax enjoyed and valued by generations of Nova Scotians for hiking, fishing, camping and enjoying the beauty and tranquility of nature is now protected forever.

The new Island Lake Wilderness Area protects 3,937 hectares of land, wetlands and water in the St. Margarets Bay area. It is one of 23 new designations that protect an additional 14,000 hectares of forest, water, wetlands, coastline and coastal habitats, bringing the total area of the province that is protected to 13.45 percent.

Environment and Climate Change Minister Timothy Halman made the announcement today, December 20, in Upper Tantallon.

New Island Lake Wilderness Area Among 14,000 More Hectares Now Protected | Government of Nova Scotia News Releases
 
To protect its iconic condors, an entire Bolivian town declared itself a reserve
  • Quebracho and Condor Natural Reserve in the Cordillera de Laderas was created on Aug. 24 this year in response to the poisoning deaths of 34 Andean condors two years earlier.
  • The community of Ladera Norte pushed for their entire territory of nearly 3,300 hectares (8,150 acres) to be designated as a nature reserve, citing the importance of the condor as the national bird.
  • The reserve also protects the white quebracho, a tree species native to this region of Bolivia, which is threatened by the loss and fragmentation of habitat.

In February 2021, a period of national mourning was declared in Bolivia after 34 Andean condors were found dead. The images that circulated on social media showed a desolate scene in an area of the town of Laderas Norte, located about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from Tarija, the largest city in the country’s south.

Today, that tragedy has given rise to the first rural/municipal protected area dedicated to the conservation of this majestic bird of prey, Vultur gryphus, which is pictured on Bolivia’s coat of arms.

Quebracho and Condor Natural Reserve in the Cordillera de Laderas was created to protect this iconic South American bird and conserve a stand of white quebracho trees (Aspidosperma quebracho-blanco), a species characteristic to the Chaco region, a vast scrubland ecosystem.

“It’s interesting that there’s a small forest of white quebracho right there,” said Verónica Sanjinés, a lawyer with the Nativa Foundation, who assisted the community in creating the protected area.

To protect its iconic condors, an entire Bolivian town declared itself a reserve
 
The 2023 Red List update reveals hope for birds in crisis

The 2023 IUCN Red List update has been released at a critical juncture for nature, as the world waits nervously for the outcomes of the climate COP28. However, this year’s update for birds reminds us just how impactful local communities can be in saving nature, with three Asian stork species being downlisted to lower threat categories. Thanks to amazing community efforts conserving the habitats and individuals of
Greater and Lesser Adjutant, both have been reclassified as Near Threatened, from Endangered and Vulnerable respectively. Wetland management and reduced persecution have also helped Painted Stork, formerly listed as Near Threatened but now considered Least Concern.

‘In the Kamrup district of Assam, the number of Greater Adjutant nests has increased from 28 in 2010 to more than 250, making this the World’s largest breeding colony. Moreover, this once persecuted species has become a cultural symbol, and in the process has also transformed the lives of local women, who now travel to other villages to raise awareness about the storks.’

An excerpt from the BirdLife Magazine, March of the Adjutants by Devathi Parashuram, available in January 2024.

The 2023 Red List update reveals hope for birds in crisis
 
“Unprecedented conservation triumph”

Saiga antelope reclassified from ‘Critically Endangered’ to ‘Near Threatened’ in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

Today [11th December 2023], the IUCN Red List status assessment of Saiga antelope (Saiga tatarica) has been changed from Critically Endangered to Near Threatened, thanks to effective national and international conservation efforts.

This substantial positive change in global Red List status – a rarity in conservation – reflects the remarkable recovery of saiga populations in Kazakhstan, which have recovered from a perilously low estimate of just 39,000 in 2005 to now over 1.9 million.

“Unprecedented conservation triumph” - Altyn Dala Conservation Initiative
 
Protected areas rise by 11, reach 320 nationwide

The history of Iran's first protected areas dates back to 1967 when the proposal for the establishment of two national parks and 15 protected areas as the first protected sites in Iran was approved, ISNA reported.

In 1976, there were more than 65 protected areas covering an area of 6.7 million hectares in the country, which has now extended to 309 areas with an area of 19 million hectares.

https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/492647/Protected-areas-rise-by-11-reach-320-nationwide
 
Historic Alberta ranch now among the province's protected grasslands

A significant plot of land in southwestern Alberta is the latest addition province's conserved grassland habitats.

Bectell Ranch, a 323-hectare property near Police Outpost Provincial Park south of Cardston, is to be conserved through a partnership between the property owners and the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC).

The Bectell's history with ranching goes back over 100 years, and the historic property will now contribute to ongoing efforts to protect Alberta's unique grasslands.

Close to 80 per cent of the now-conserved land is Prairie grasslands, and it will continue to function as a grazing grounds for cattle.

A release from the NCC explains how grazing contributes to the health of grasslands.

"When properly managed, their grazing behaviour approximates the historic actions of bison. Many species need shorter grass to survive, while others need longer grass. This disturbance, along with fire, helps maintain the health of grasslands and creates diverse habitats for many plants and animals."

Historic Alberta ranch now among the province's protected grasslands
 
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