Positive Wildlife News 2021

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Native species bouncing back thanks to arid recovery research

Threatened native species in Australia’s arid lands are showing positive signs of recovery thanks to a team of passionate scientists, volunteers and Traditional Owners working together to bring these animals back from the brink.

A new report from independent not-for-profit organisation, Arid Recovery, shows their world-leading conservation science is delivering direct benefits for a number of native animals including bilbies, Shark Bay bandicoots and plains mice.

Department for Environment and Water - Native species bouncing back…
 
Camera trap study shows conservation efforts ‘are working’ on Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula: Video
  • The largest-ever camera trap study in Central America, on Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula, has revealed how human disturbance affects where animals live and how they’re grouped.
  • Protected areas and healthy forests held a greater diversity of animals as well as larger species like tapirs, jaguars and pumas, while places with more human activity had fewer species, which tended to be smaller, more common animals like opossums and agoutis.
  • The camera trap study, begun in early 2018, shows many species have recovered completely in the forest reserves around Corcovado National Park, indicating that conservation efforts over the past 30 years have been largely effective.
  • Local conservation groups are now focused on creating wilderness corridors so larger species like jaguars can rebound in neighboring forests.
After she collected a set of camera traps from the ridgeline above Corcovado National Park, conservation biologist Eleanor Flatt said that scientists, staff, and tourists all huddled around her computer at the Punta Marenco Lodge to see what images were captured.

Camera traps, remote cameras triggered by motion, can be set off by something as mundane as a leaf blowing in the wind. So, as blurry shots of bushes, fronds, and regularly seen animals appeared, she says, many lost interest — until a puma flashed across the screen.

“Everyone came running back,” Flatt said. “They couldn’t believe it.”

https://news-mongabay-com.cdn.amppr...are-working-on-costa-ricas-osa-peninsula/amp/
 
New South Wales to add two wetlands to national parks under 33,000ha land purchase

Exclusive: the wetlands are estimated to host 70,000 waterbirds, including Australia’s rarest waterfowl

Two nationally significant wetlands in far north New South Wales will be added to the national parks estate as part of a 33,000ha land purchase by the state government, Guardian Australia can reveal.

The property, Brindingabba-Bindra, is 150km north of Bourke in the Cuttaburra basin, and part of the Paroo and the Warrego floodplains in the Murray-Darling’s northern basin.

The acquisition includes the Lake Wombah wetlands on the Queensland border, and more than 7,000ha of the Yantabulla Swamp.

These wetlands are a vital breeding ground and habitat for birdlife, including black swans, pink-eared ducks, herons and Australia’s rarest waterfowl, the freckled duck.

The wetlands are estimated to host some 70,000 waterbirds, as well as an array of small native mammals and insects.

https://amp-theguardian-com.cdn.amp...to-national-parks-under-33000ha-land-purchase
 
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The return of the rufous-necked hornbill to Nepal

This species of hornbill was last seen in Nepal in 1829

It took almost 200 years to establish the existence of the rufous-necked hornbill (Aceros nipalensis) in Nepal, last seen in the country in 1829. Wildlife photographer Deven Kharel found and photographed a pair of male rufous-necked hornbills on December 21, 2021 in Sim Dhap of Suryodaya Municipality in eastern Nepal’s Ilam District. Naturalist Brian Hodgson had discovered this bird in Nepal in 1829 and coined the scientific name Buceros nipalensis. Before Kharel’s find, these birds were reported to be extinct in Nepal though they were still found in India, Bhutan, China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.

The return of the rufous-necked hornbill to Nepal
 
Three more species of birds and pileated gibbons released to Angkor Archaeological Park

Three more species of 18 birds and two Pileated Gibbons have been released to the Angkor Archaeological Park.

The release was made recently by the APSARA National Authority in collaboration with Phnom Penh Forestry Administration and Wildlife Alliance.

Of the species of 18 birds released include 4 Peafowls (3 males, 1 female), 6 Great Hornbills (5 males, 1 female) and 4 Wreathed Hornbills (males) from any wildlife conservation organisations and local people, while other 4 Peacocks from the Angkor Centre for Conservation of Biodiversity (ACCB).

Three more species of birds and pileated gibbons released to Angkor Archaeological Park - Khmer Times

 
Conservationists create a vast home on the eco-range for wildlife north of Los Angeles.

When Zachary Principe wants to introduce people to one of his favorite vistas, he takes them to the top of Bear Mountain, a sky island in the Tehachapi Mountains north of Los Angeles where California condors roost in the boughs of sugar pines.

The mountaintop 6,805 feet above sea level is a refuge for mountain lions, mule deer and bobcats and is only about a two-hour drive from 18 million people in Southern California. “But it’s off-limits to development,” said Principe, project manager for the nonprofit Nature Conservancy, “because we bought the place.”

Bear Mountain is among the latest additions to the conservancy’s new Frank and Joan Randall Tehachapi Preserve, which consists of nine working livestock ranches acquired, in bits and pieces, over the past decade as a last line of defense against sprawl, the mounting pressures of climate change and wind farms spreading across the region’s ridgelines.

https://www-latimes-com.cdn.ampproj...eate-home-for-wildlife-north-of-l-a?_amp=true
 
Good year for the noses – Celebrating saiga success and other positive stories from 2021

Twelve months is a mere blink of an eye in the conservation world, where hard work can take a decade or more to bear fruit. As we prepare to usher in what will be another crucial year for biodiversity and the planet, we’re taking a moment to look back at some of the successes that gave Fauna & Flora International (FFI) and our partners around the world cause for celebration in 2021.

From Saint Lucia to Sumatra via South Sudan, here’s a whistle-stop tour through some of the uplifting news from our project teams and policy initiatives across the globe.

SAIGA SURGE

Saiga numbers in the Kazakhstan stronghold of this critically endangered antelope are continuing to swell, and the latest aerial census conducted by FFI’s partner ACBK has recorded a population boom. An estimated 842,000 saiga are now present in Kazakhstan, over half a million higher than the previous survey numbers.

“The recent survey results indicate that the saiga populations are recovering with remarkable speed…The success of the initiative is promising and inspiring, yet we should remember that, as a species, the saiga is still in great need of protection measures.”

Dr Sergey Sklyarenko, ACBK Science Director & Head of the Centre for Conservation Biology
 
Giraffe Population Numbers Are on the Rise

Conservationists are hopeful for the continued growth of the species.

There’s some good news for
giraffes.

The latest research shows that population numbers are increasing for all species of giraffes over the past few years. The overall number is still small, but conservationists are optimistic for the species.

The latest estimate, based on numbers collected from all over Africa, is just more than 117,000 animals, according to the Giraffe Conservation Foundation. That’s an increase of nearly 20% since 2015.

Giraffe Population Numbers Are on the Rise
 
Return of the Lamprey: Tribal-led conservation helps revive an ancient fish in Wenatchee River

On an overcast afternoon, I find myself hauling bins to the banks of the Wenatchee River with fellow biologists. I struggle to grip the handles as something alive and energetic thrashes inside. I peer curiously over the rim, and my gaze is met with a writhing mass of Pacific lamprey.

Pacific lamprey are some of the oldest fish alive today and were once abundant in the upper Wenatchee River in Washington. Today, these ancient fish are far less common. The Yakama Nation Fisheries, in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), is using generations of traditional knowledge and modern science to tackle this potential conservation catastrophe.

Return of the Lamprey: Tribal-led conservation helps revive an ancient fish in Wenatchee River
 
Court order blocks Shell’s seismic surveys off South Africa’s Wild Coast
  • A petition by environmentalists, Indigenous groups and fisheries organizations succeeded in temporarily halting oil giant Shell’s plans to conduct seismic surveys off South Africa’s Wild Coast to prospect for oil and gas reserves below the seabed.
  • Conservation groups cited the potential impact on the breeding grounds of southern right whales and humpback whales, and the effect on the local fisheries sector.
  • The recent order hinges on whether affected communities that hold traditional rights, including fishing rights in the waters, were properly consulted.
  • The judge ruled that they were not, while also noting that concerns about irreversible harm to marine life were “reasonable.”
    A South African court has ordered oil giant Shell to suspend plans for seismic blasting along the country’s Wild Coast, in a decision hailed by environmentalists.
https://news-mongabay-com.cdn.amppr...mic-surveys-off-south-africas-wild-coast/amp/
 
5 Environmental Conservation Wins of 2021

From rebounding animal populations to major financial commitments.

Conservation is about protecting that which sustains life on Earth — the rivers that flow with fresh water, the soil rooting crops in place, the forests and marinescapes that release oxygen.

Framed in this way, conservation seems like an undertaking that would be universally supported.

But conservationists face countless challenges, from the industrial forces invested in exploiting natural resources and polluting ecosystems to a general lack of funding and government support. Efforts to conserve an environment have long been framed by opponents as a threat to jobs and community well-being — as if any jobs or well-being would exist without a functioning environment.

1. Animals Made Comebacks

In recent decades, wild animal populations have plunged amid habitat loss, climate change, pollution, poaching, and interactions with invasive species. As a result, the sixth mass extinction is well underway. In the US alone, 22 animal species went extinct over the past year.

But there are positive trends happening worldwide. Nepal is on track to double its wild tiger population by 2022, gorilla populations are rebounding in sub-Saharan Africa, and jaguars are returning to forested areas of Colombia. The Iberian lynx has bounced back from near-extinction, a population of endangered monkeys in Vietnam has quadrupled since 2000, and endangered gharials have returned to the Ganges River.

Wolves have surged back to life throughout Europe, a jaguar corridor is under development across the Amazon, and an endangered mountain gazelle made a comeback on the war-torn border of Turkey and Syria. China, meanwhile, is creating a national park to guard giant pandas, which have finally been removed from the endangered species list, and seven Tasmanian devil babies were born in semi-wild conditions for the first time in 3,000 years.

A restored island in the US became an abundant breeding ground for various threatened bird species, while removing invasive predators from a French Polynesian island allowed endangered birds to recover.

These recoveries are just a snapshot of the progress that can be made when the lives of animals are fully valued.

Elsewhere, animals are taking their survival into their own trunks. Elephants, long hunted for their tusks, have begun to evolve without tusks — immunizing themselves from ivory-hungry poachers.

https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/conservation-wins-of-2021/
 
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