Positive Wildlife News 2023

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Pentagon, Interior launch new program to protect land around bases

The Departments of Defense and the Interior announced Tuesday an $80 million investment to preserve land around military installations through the new Readiness and Recreation Initiative, according to a release.

As part of the joint effort, the National Park Service will provide $40 million from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, with the Pentagon matching the contribution through a Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration Program.

Additionally, officials will work to identify projects around the country that support both the preservation of land around military installations and the readiness of the units that occupy them, the release said. The Defense Department is also expected to enter into cost-sharing agreements with local and state governments to acquire land “in fee or under easement” to prevent residential and commercial development from encroaching near bases.

Pentagon, Interior launch new program to protect land around bases
 
Boost for rare and threatened species with new conservation funding announced

It will be used to create solutions to address species decline in England, research and to invest in wildlife habitat restoration and creation.

A new multi-million pound grant scheme was launched today (Monday 3rd April) by Natural England to help safeguard rare and threatened species from extinction.

Species such as lady’s slipper orchid, water vole, natterjack toad, wartbiter cricket and curlew could benefit from a grant from the £18 million Species Recovery Programme Capital Grant Scheme.

Boost for rare and threatened species with new conservation funding announced
 
Where to see red kites, the birds which have been ‘the biggest species success story in UK conservation history’

Red kites are returning in numbers that naturalists could only have dreamed of 30 years ago. Dr Mike Pienkowski has chronicled the extraordinary success story of how they were brought back from the brink of extinction — and he shared with us five of the best places to see these beautiful birds of prey.

In the Middle Ages, the red kite flourished. The forked-tailed, diurnal bird of prey enjoyed a happy working relationship with humans — keeping cities reasonably clean by scavenging on the refuse that littered the streets — and benefited from some of the first protective legislation in Britain (killing a kite was punishable by death).

However, 1457 signalled the decline of the species, when James II of Scotland decreed that kites and other predatory birds should be destroyed. Later, vermin laws ensured the kite would be subject to relentless persecution and, by the 1930s, only one breeding pair survived in the remote hills of mid Wales. By the 1980s, the birds were one of three globally endangered species in the UK.

Where to see red kites, the birds which have been 'the biggest species success story in UK conservation history’ - Country Life
 
UngulateNerd92 said:
Rare wolverine sighting recorded near Portland

A wolverine spotted near Portland this week became the first of its kind seen in western Oregon in more than 30 years.

Two people photographed the wolverine while they were fishing on the Columbia River Monday and shared the images with staff from Cascadia Wild and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. An ODFW team then confirmed the animal’s tracks in the area the next morning.

https://www-opb-org.cdn.ampproject....ghting-near-portland-historic/?outputType=amp
Click to expand...

Here is another relevant article.

Elusive animal spotted outside its usual range for the first time in over 30 years

A wolverine was spotted this week by people fishing on the Columbia River near Portland, according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

It was the first confirmed report of a wolverine in Oregon outside the Wallowa Mountains in the northeastern part of the state in more than 30 years, according to officials.

Wolverines resemble small bears with bushy tails. They are rare and listed as threatened in Oregon, according to the department.

Wolverine spotted outside its normal range for the first time in over 30 years - CNN
 
Proposed parcels removed from upcoming oil and gas lease sale to protect sage grouse

The federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) removed nearly half of the proposed parcels from an upcoming Wyoming oil and gas lease sale to protect greater sage grouse habitat.

According to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD), habitat is key to the sustainability of sage grouse populations. Jackson Hole is a prime location for sage grouse leks, or crucial open areas where they perform their iconic mating dance.

Proposed parcels removed from upcoming oil and gas lease sale to protect sage grouse
 
Two Swiss Lynx to Strengthen the Population in Italy

In the canton of Jura, two lynx were captured by KORA in cooperation with the Institute for Fish and Wildlife Health FIWI and the responsible game warden, and were brought to Italy for release at the beginning of March. The purpose of the relocation is to prevent the extinction of lynx in the Dinaric mountains and the south-eastern Alps. Both lynx will be monitored by means of radio collars after their release.

From the Canton of Jura

On 2 March 2023, the canton of Jura reported the capture of two lynx in the Delémont district. The gamekeeper of the canton of Jura and the staff of KORA and FIWI were able to catch the two females at roe deers, that were killed by the lynx and to which they returned to feed on. The two lynx were found to be healthy by FIWI veterinarians. Genetic testing by KORA revealed that they are not related to each other. Before crossing the border, they were taken to quarantine stations. From there, a few days later, they went to Italy to the area of their release.

Off to Italy

Tarvisio in the province of Udine is located in the border triangle of Italy, Austria and Slovenia. The location is ideal for a release, as it is about 30 km west of a lynx population that has been reintroduced to the Slovenian Alps. The expectation is that the Swiss lynx will link up with this population, thereby strengthening it genetically and contributing to the long-term viability of lynx in this region.

Two Swiss lynx to strengthen the population in Italy
 
Wild swan conservation success gives cause for hope

Numbers of whooper swans are predicted to double in the UK by 2030, thanks to efforts to protect the wetlands where they spend the winter.

The wild bird, known for its trumpet-like call, flies in from Iceland to overwinter across the country.

Scientists say the swan is benefitting from special protection in nature reserves.

And this offers hope that setting aside 30% of the planet for nature can help reverse decades of biodiversity loss.

https://www-bbc-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-64944172.amp
 
President Biden To Create New Marine Sanctuary In Pacific

Hawaii congressman says "our world's oceans are at mortal risk."

President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that he would expeditiously expand and increase environmental protections for a group of remote atolls and islands in the Central Pacific and the nearly 777,000 square miles of waters around them.

He’s directing the commerce secretary to consider initiating a new national marine sanctuary designation within the next 30 days around the Pacific Remote Islands, which would further his goal of conserving at least 30% of U.S. ocean waters by 2030.

A coalition of Pacific island leaders and members of Hawaii’s congressional delegation among others applauded Biden’s decision, though there were some lingering concerns.

Biden To Create New Marine Sanctuary In Pacific
 
India’s tiger population up from 2,967 to 3,167 in 2022: Prime Minister Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday announced that India’s tiger population increased to 3,167 in 2022 from 2,967, recorded in 2018. Releasing a report on ‘

Status of Tigers, India 2022’ in Mysuru, Karnataka, PM Modi took pride in the phenomenal success of the Project Tiger, which has completed 50 years.

https://m-timesofindia-com.cdn.ampp...-in-2022-pm-modi/amp_articleshow/99356138.cms
 
‘It is so beautiful’: rare inland rainforest in British Columbia declared Indigenous protected area

In a race to conserve the largest intact, unprotected watershed in southern B.C., the Simpcw First Nation unilaterally declared the creation of a new protected area under Indigenous law — a move that could put an end to logging plan.

In the heart of B.C.’s Cariboo region lies an old-growth rainforest valley untouched by industrial logging or road building. Salmon and trout spawn in a glacier-fed river bounded by wetlands. Caribou, grizzly bears and wolverines roam among cedar and hemlock trees hundreds of years old. Settlers called the valley Raush, an abbreviation of Rivière au Shuswap, referring to the Secwépemc peoples whose name they struggled to pronounce.

‘It is so beautiful’: rare inland rainforest in B.C. declared Indigenous protected area | The Narwhal
 
Skomer Island: Record number of puffins recorded

A record-breaking number of puffins have been counted on and around Skomer Island, off Pembrokeshire.

The first count of the year earlier this week clocked 42,513 birds, the highest since the island counts began in the late 1980s.

March and April marks the start of the annual migration of puffins to the Welsh wildlife spot.

The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales said the number marks an "excellent start to the season".

https://www-bbc-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-65122131.amp
 
Tanapa to reintroduce rhinos in Mikumi after three decades
  • The planned reintroduction is part of efforts to attract more visitors to tourism’s Southern Circuit
Morogoro. Mikumi National Park plans to reintroduce rhinos, which were wiped out from the park by poaching in the 1980s.

The planned reintroduction is part of efforts to attract more visitors to tourism’s Southern Circuit.

Located in Morogoro Region, Mikumi is one of the 22 national parks managed by Tanzania National Parks (Tanapa) and attracts the highest number of local visitors, according to the park’s head of tourism section, Mr Herman Mtei.

Tanapa to reintroduce rhinos in Mikumi after three decades
 
New safe haven for locally extinct red-tailed phascogale

Over a century ago healthy populations of this native marsupial lived throughout New South Wales. Now, refuges surrounded by predator-proof fences are allowing them to go home.

Meet the red-tailed phascogale (Phascogale calura), a small semi-arboreal carnivorous marsupial, ash grey in colour with a trademark reddish-brown tail adorned with long black hairs at its tip.

“They are a fascinating Australian species for many reasons” says Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC) Regional Ecologist, Dr Greg Holland.

New safe haven for locally extinct red-tailed phascogale
 
49 Endangered Hawaiian Species to Gain Lifesaving Habitat Protections

In a legal victory stemming from a Center for Biological Diversity lawsuit, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agreed today to designate protected critical habitat for 39 endangered plants and 10 endangered animals.

The ‘Akē‘akē (band-rumped storm-petrel), anchialine pool shrimp and palms known as Baker’s loulu are in line for habitat protections by June 30, 2027. The Service has until June 30, 2028, to designate habitat for the remaining 46 species.

49 Endangered Hawaiian Species to Gain Lifesaving Habitat Protections
 
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