Positive Wildlife News 2024

Status
Not open for further replies.
Golden oriole Cornwall sighting at Penzance of 'nearly extinct' bird

Twitchers flocked to Cornwall recently to catch a sight of a 'nearly extinct' bird that was spotted perched in a tree. The incredibly rare golden oriole set the bird-watching world aflutter by stopping off in Gulval, near Penzance, on Saturday (January 13).

The RSPB says the golden oriole is around the size of a blackbird with males sporting a bright yellow body with black wings. Females have additional cream, white and green colouring. The bird spotted in Cornwall had a white chest with dullish green feathers, suggesting it was a female.

Bird that's 'effectively extinct' in UK turns up in Cornwall
 
Bucking the trend for amphibians, Costa Rica’s salamanders stage a comeback

An in-depth look at how Costa Rica’s decades-long conservation efforts are paying off for amphibian species today

At first glance, the headline from the second Global Amphibian Assessment may seem a bit doom and gloom: amphibians around the world continue to be in big trouble. They are, in fact, among the most threatened animals on the planet, with two out of every five species threatened with extinction. For those of you who haven’t committed any rent space in your brain to frogs, toads, salamanders and newts — those wiggly things that hop, squirm and slither — you might not think this is important to you.

But ask any herpetologist and they will back me up. The more you know about amphibians, the less you need to be convinced that they are the coolest--and that their health matters to the overall health of the planet and all life on it (including yours and mine!). From the mystifying regeneration of lost limbs, spines, hearts, and even brains, to breathing through toxic, kaleidoscopic skin, it’s no wonder their remarkable evolutionary innovations have put them at the center of everything from modern medical research to ancient myth and folklore. And within the planet’s intricate web of biodiversity, these metamorphic shapeshifters also serve as key indicators of ecosystem health, known to be some of the world’s best natural pest controllers.

Bucking the trend for amphibians, Costa Rica’s salamanders stage a comeback
 
Saudi National Center for Wildlife releases endangered species in Ibex Protected Area near Riyadh

Effort aligns with environmental protection strategy and goals of Saudi Vision 2030

Dubai: The National Centre for Wildlife (NCW) has released 34 wild animals in the Ibex Protected Area, located approximately 180km from Riyadh.

Twenty antelopes and 14 birds were released into the protectorate on January 24. The initiative is part of the centre’s programme to rehabilitate ecosystems, resettle endangered species, and enhance biodiversity in the Kingdom.

The species selected will contribute to the preservation of the environment and support the reserve’s candidacy for inclusion in the Green List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The IUCN is a global programme of certification aiming to achieve and promote successful conserved areas by highlighting best practices and providing a benchmark for progress towards equitable management.

https://gulfnews-com.cdn.ampproject...ex-protected-area-near-riyadh-1.1706193572916
 
Climate change: Four new emperor penguin groups found by satellite

Four new emperor penguin colonies have been identified in Antarctica from satellite imagery.

It brings the number of known nesting sites around the White Continent to 66.

With the discoveries, scientists believe they now know the whereabouts of all the world's remaining breeding pairs.

It's vital information for conservationists monitoring a species that's under increasing pressure as a result of climate change.

Emperors court, mate, lay and hatch eggs, and then bring up their young on the sea-ice connected to the coast - so-called fast ice.

But this type of ice has diminished in parts of Antarctica and become more variable, certainly in recent years, putting a big question mark against the long-term viability of the species in an ever-warming world.

https://www-bbc-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-68071718.amp
 
African elephant populations stabilise in southern heartlands

Scientist say animals still need protecting and also connecting to restore habitats fragmented by human activities.

African elephant populations have stabilised in their southern heartlands after huge losses over the last century, according to the most comprehensive analysis of growth rates to date.

The latest analysis also provides the strongest data so far showing that protected areas that are connected to other places are far better than isolated “fortress” parks at maintaining stable populations, by allowing the elephants to migrate back and forth between areas as they did naturally in the past.

https://amp-theguardian-com.cdn.amp...-populations-stabilise-in-southern-heartlands
 
6 Black Rhinos have just been transferred from Ol Pejeta to Loisaba conservancy in Kenya.
Black Rhinos were absent in Loisaba for 50 years.
Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Kenya on Instagram: "BLACK RHINO TRANSLOCATION SUCCESS: We are thrilled to announce the incredible news that the translocation of 6 black rhinos from Ol Pejeta Conservancy to Loisaba Conservancy was a monumental success! After a journey of 115km through challenging roads, the trucks arrived to Loisaba ready to release the rhinos into their new home. Everyone held their breath in anticipation as, for the first time in 50 years, history was made as a black rhino stepped on to Loisaba. The other 5 Ol Pejeta black rhinos soon followed and were joined by another 15 to become part of the founding population of 21 black rhinos on Loisaba. In this landmark moment, Kenya is cementing its role as a haven for critically endangered black rhinos and safeguarding their populations for future generations. Transporting stubborn and aggressive black rhinos each weighing over a ton requires intense concentration, expert co-ordination, and a cool head under pressure. We’d therefore like to say a big thank you to the amazing team as they once again demonstrated their remarkable expertise and professionalism throughout the exercise. A huge congratulations to everyone involved from @kenyawildlifeservice, @loisaba_conservancy, @lewaconservancy, Nairobi National Park, @sandiegozoo , @nature_org, @elewanacollection and @spaceforgiants Photo: @riothephotographer / Ol Pejeta Conservancy #OlPejeta #OlPejetaConservancy #BlackRhino #RhinoConservation #ConservationSuccess #Endangered #Africa #Kenya #Laikipia"
 
For the first time in over 30 years, two pairs of Cinereous Vultures occupy nests in the Rhodope mountains in Bulgaria.
Rewilding Europe on Instagram: "Love is in the air! For the first time in more than 30 years, two pairs of cinereous vultures are occupying nests in the Rhodope Mountains of Bulgaria! Just 14 months into the ambitious reintroduction programme spearheaded by the @RewildingRhodopes and the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB), the future looks promising for the reestablishment of a breeding colony of these remarkable birds. The newly formed pairs consist of four-year-old birds released in 2022. In the video we see the two vultures displaying a behaviour called allopreening. It is typical of formed pairs and shows these lovebirds are strengthening their bond, marking a beautiful Valentine's Day milestone in rewilding efforts! Learn more by checking out @rewildingrhodopes @bogdanboevwildlife #RewildingEurope #rewilding #ValentinesDay #LoveIsInTheAir #Vultures #Lovebirds #CinereousVultures #WildlifeComeback #Rhodopes #VultureConservation #BirdConservation #BeautifulBirds #Scavengers #CircleOfLife"
 
Tonkoro, Melrose stations to become protected areas
  • The Miles Government has this week purchased two western Queensland cattle stations, with the more than 200,000 hectares of land acquired to be added to the Protected Areas Estate.
  • Tonkoro Station, near Longreach and Melrose Station, near Winton, contain habitat for rare and critically endangered species.
  • Securing these properties will also help protect the headwaters of the Queensland section of the Lake Eyre Basin, one of the last remaining free-flowing arid river systems in the world.
The Miles Government has secured key habitat for the critically endangered Night Parrot as part of the acquisition of two cattle stations in Western Queensland.

The purchase of Tonkoro Station near Longreach and almost all of Melrose Station near Winton will enable the more than 200,000 hectares of land acquired to be added to Queensland’s protected area.

Tonkoro, Melrose stations to become protected areas
 
Critically endangered woylies making a comeback in south-west Western Australia's Batalling State Forest

The population of a critically endangered, truffle-loving native marsupial is bouncing back in a southern WA forest, new monitoring has found.

Key points:
  • 34 woylies were found in a forest south-east of Perth last year, up from just two in 2019
  • DBCA says the result is partly due to fox and feral cat management
  • Woylies play an important part in the Australian ecosytem
Woylies are small mammals native to forests and shrubland in Australia, but their numbers have dwindled because of foxes and feral cats.

https://amp-abc-net-au.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/amp.abc.net.au/article/103365244
 
Last edited:
In Bolivia, a 'conservation mosaic’ gets another (big) piece

In the remote lowland forests of northwestern Bolivia, a small municipality has taken a big step to protect one of the Amazon’s most biodiverse regions.

With support from Conservation International, the municipality of Sena established a law to protect 452,639 hectares (1.1 million acres) of Amazon rainforest. The Gran Manupare Integrated Management Natural Area is the most recent piece in a massive, interconnected “conservation mosaic” created largely by local municipalities and Indigenous communities that are taking forest protection into their own hands.

In the past 25 years, Bolivian towns like Sena have protected 10 million contiguous hectares (25 million acres) of Bolivia’s Amazon — an area nearly the size of Iceland — securing their livelihoods, as well as endangered wildlife, and helping the country reach its ambitious goal to protect 30 percent of its land years ahead of schedule.

“Piece by piece, we are knitting together the fabric of conservation in the Amazon,” said Conservation International-Bolivia Vice President Eduardo Forno. “This is a huge achievement, a testament to the power of a consistent approach. Local communities have kept their eyes on the prize. They are having a big impact on the Amazon — for the benefit of us all.”

In Bolivia, a 'conservation mosaic’ gets another (big) piece
 
How Sea Otters Are Protecting the California Coast Against Climate Change

California sea otters were nearly hunted to extinction in the 19th century, with only a small number surviving along the central coast. As otters rebounded, a natural experiment unfolded. Scientists could see the ways that otters shape California’s kelp forests and marshland. Two new studies reveal how otters are safeguarding these coastal areas against worsening climate change.

How Sea Otters Are Protecting the California Coast Against Climate Change
 
Rare animal returns to the New Forest after an absence of decades

Rare pine martens are now present across the New Forest and successfully breeding after an absence of decades.

The news comes after a three year study into the rare creatures, a cat-sized member of the weasel family.

Conservationists placed 30 hidden cameras in 11 different parts of the New Forest to observe how these protected animals are returning to the area.

Yahoo is part of the Yahoo family of brands
 
Endangered vulture species nesting in Ghana is rare good news about raptors
  • Researchers surveying Ghana’s Mole National Park have found three critically endangered vulture species nesting there.
  • In Ghana and elsewhere across Africa, vultures are threatened by poisoning, habitat loss, hazards including power transmission lines, and hunting for “belief-based” trade.
  • This is the first observation of nesting hooded vultures in the park and the first white-backed and white-headed vulture nests seen anywhere in the country.
  • The researchers say as well as greater efforts to prevent poaching, education and enforcement aimed at curbing illegal trade in vulture parts is needed to protect these scavengers.
Researchers recently reported finding three critically endangered vulture species nesting in Mole National Park, Ghana’s largest protected area. It’s the first scientific observation of hooded vultures (Necrosyrtes monachus) nesting in the park, and the first report of white-backed vultures (Gyps africanus) and white-headed vultures (Trigonoceps occipitalis) nesting anywhere in the country. The findings are published in The Journal of Raptor Research.

“The fact that Mole National Park has three out of the four critically endangered African vulture species just shows how vital it is to support these protected areas,” paper co-author Nico Arcilla, president of the International Bird Conservation Partnership, told Mongabay in an interview.

https://news-mongabay-com.cdn.amppr...in-ghana-is-rare-good-news-about-raptors/amp/
 
Rewilding in Argentina helps giant anteaters return to south Brazil
  • Recent giant anteater sightings in Rio Grande do Sul state indicate the species has returned to southern Brazil, where it had been considered extinct for more than a century.
  • Experts concluded that the giant anteater ventured across the border from the Iberá Park in northeastern Argentina where a rewilding project has released around 110 individuals back into the habitat.
  • The sightings emphasize the importance of rewilding projects, both to restore animal populations in specific regions and help ecosystems farther afield.
  • Organizations across Brazil are working to protect and maintain current giant anteater populations, including rallying for safer highways to prevent wildlife-vehicle collisions that cause local extinctions.
Playing back hours of footage from a camera trap set in Espinilho State Park in the south of Brazil in August 2023, Fábio Mazim and his team banked on possible sightings of the maned wolf or the Pantanal deer and had their fingers crossed for a glimpse of a Pampas cat (Leopardus pajeros), one of the most threatened felines in the world.

https://news-mongabay-com.cdn.amppr...s-giant-anteaters-return-to-south-brazil/amp/
 
Spotted tree frogs released into Victorian high country after Zoos Victoria breeding program
  • In short:
  • Researchers have bred 800 spotted tree frogs from 26 they collected in north-east Victoria in 2021.
  • They have released the first 70 of those frogs into the wild.
  • What's next? Research is being done to make them more disease resistant.
Matt West was searching rocky, high-altitude streams when he came across his needle in a haystack.

His team was part of a search for a tiny, vivid green, lumpy-skinned amphibian species which Zoos Victoria said had lost about half of its known habitat in the Black Summer bushfires.

Dr West, who is the director of conservation company Wild Research, said the March 2021 searches of sites in north-east Victoria uncovered 26 critically endangered spotted tree frogs.

Those frogs have formed the basis of a breeding program that this month celebrated the release of 70 back into the alpine environment.

"It feels like a bit of a miracle to find one," he said on Friday. "A bit of a needle in a haystack."

https://amp-abc-net-au.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/amp.abc.net.au/article/103470196
 
Great Bustards are doing OK in east Austria

"The West Pannonian Great Bustard population has been significantly increasing for nearly two decades from 286 individuals in 2005 to 662 in 2023. Nowadays the population reached the highest density of all Great Bustard populations in the whole world - 590 individuals / 324 km²."

West Pannonia in this context means northeast Austria together with border regions of west Slovakia and west Hungary. Great Bustards living in this general area are physically isolated from other populations in east Hungary and east Germany.

Source
 
A new hope – Previously unknown Skywalker gibbon populations found in Myanmar

New populations of an endangered primate, named after the lead character in

Star Wars when it was identified as a distinct species back in 2017, have been found in Myanmar.

Scientists had already speculated that the evocatively named Skywalker gibbon might not be confined to the forest in China where the species was originally discovered. They suspected that its range might extend across the border into Myanmar.

Gibbons do not swim and rarely leave their treetop homes, to which they are wonderfully well adapted. This means that rivers tend to form natural barriers that restrict the movements of these canopy-dwelling primates and dictate their distribution. Based on the local geography, Skywalker gibbons could reasonably be expected to occur between the N’Mai Kha and Ayeyarwaddy Rivers to the west, and the Salween River to the east.

A new hope – Previously unknown Skywalker gibbon populations found in Myanmar
 
In a Win for Endangered Salmon, Court Orders Puyallup River Dam Removal

What happened: A federal district court recently ruled that a large portion of Electron Dam must be removed from the Puyallup River in Washington because the dam harms fish protected under the Endangered Species Act.

Why it matters: Electron Dam has been harming Chinook salmon, steelhead, and trout for nearly 100 years. In 2020, the company that operates the dam tried to replace a spillway and botched the job, creating more hazards for the fish. Earthjustice went to court to press for the new segment’s removal on behalf of the Puyallup Tribe. Salmon and other native fish play a critical role in the Tribe’s culture and economy. With this part of the dam gone, the river will flow naturally for the first time in almost a century.

https://earthjustice.org/brief/2024...7pR1EKqw8L-pkXYtHUXj7kSrgrlV7b3pZ0CJ8mZl2pb7u
 
Giant pandas in the wild have almost doubled

There are now about 1,900 giant pandas in the wild, compared to about 1,100 in the 1980s. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has changed the giant panda's status from "endangered" to "vulnerable".

  • Efforts to protect giant pandas have led to the population in the wild nearly doubling since the 1980s.
  • There are now about 1,900 giant pandas in the wild, compared to about 1,100 in the 1980s.
  • The International Union for Conservation of Nature has changed the giant panda's status from "endangered" to "vulnerable".
Efforts yield results

China's National Forestry and Grassland Administration announced on January 25 that the population of wild giant pandas now stands at about 1,900 individuals, a significant increase from about 1,100 in the 1980s.

A key part of the efforts to protect the panda has been the establishment of the Giant Panda National Park in October 2021, which covers an area of over 22,000 square kilometers and is home to about 72 percent of the wild giant panda population.

Since 2012, the protected areas for giant pandas have expanded from 1.39 million hectares to 2.58 million hectares.

This has led to the International Union for Conservation of Nature adjusting the status of giant pandas from "endangered" to "vulnerable," which is an improved status.

Giant pandas in the wild have almost doubled
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top