Rewilding

birdsandbats said:
I'm curious to know if there has been any talk of reintroducing Lions to Europe?
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A very simple no. Lions not only died quite a long time ago (most people don't even know lions existed here), but it is hard enough to reinterduce smaler carnivors, like lynx or wolf. Lions would not even have the right prey animals in many parts of their habitat. Which would would mean they are much more likely to attack livestock and humans. Not even talking about that there is not enough space to surive for any population.
 
Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
Could you give some examples where the law has fall short in punishing people who have killed protected species ?
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Of course.

In 2015, four South Island Takahē were shot during a Pūkeko (Australasian Swamphen) cull on Motutapu Island. The cullers were hired by the Department of Conservation and were members of the local deerstalkers association. The cullers were informed of the differences between Takahē and Pūkeko before the cull started. It appears highly unlikely that the cullers were prosecuted.
Pukeko culls halted after endangered takahe shot - NZ Herald
Relief as DOC takahe killing case ends

In 2018, a man killed nine Red-billed Gulls. The man was sentenced to community detention.
Driver sentenced for killing red-billed gulls at Kaikōura wharf

In 2018, a man killed a Kea because the Kea was being noisy. The man was sentenced to 150 hours of community work.
Man sentenced in Nelson for killing a kea

In 2018, a dead Weka that was claimed to have been killed by ingesting 1080 poison was discovered to have actually been shot. It appears highly unlikely that any prosecutions were made in relation to this incident.
Weka dumped at Parliament by anti-1080 protesters was shot, autopsy says

In 2020, a man was filmed stabbing a New Zealand Fur Seal pup. It appears that the man was not prosecuted.
Sickening video shows man stabbing baby seal in Kaikōura
Man's charge following seal stabbing video amended

Also, New Zealand Birds Online includes this sentence in its page for the Grey Teal:
In New Zealand at least 6% of the population is shot during the five week hunting season, which is high considering that hunting of this species is prohibited.
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From what I can tell, prosecutions for the killing of Grey Teal in New Zealand are extremely rare, so how can the Grey Teal honestly be called a species that is protected from hunting in New Zealand?
 
Cassidy Casuar said:
Of course.

In 2015, four South Island Takahē were shot during a Pūkeko (Australasian Swamphen) cull on Motutapu Island. The cullers were hired by the Department of Conservation and were members of the local deerstalkers association. The cullers were informed of the differences between Takahē and Pūkeko before the cull started. It appears highly unlikely that the cullers were prosecuted.
Pukeko culls halted after endangered takahe shot - NZ Herald
Relief as DOC takahe killing case ends

In 2018, a man killed nine Red-billed Gulls. The man was sentenced to community detention.
Driver sentenced for killing red-billed gulls at Kaikōura wharf

In 2018, a man killed a Kea because the Kea was being noisy. The man was sentenced to 150 hours of community work.
Man sentenced in Nelson for killing a kea

In 2018, a dead Weka that was claimed to have been killed by ingesting 1080 poison was discovered to have actually been shot. It appears highly unlikely that any prosecutions were made in relation to this incident.
Weka dumped at Parliament by anti-1080 protesters was shot, autopsy says

In 2020, a man was filmed stabbing a New Zealand Fur Seal pup. It appears that the man was not prosecuted.
Sickening video shows man stabbing baby seal in Kaikōura
Man's charge following seal stabbing video amended

Also, New Zealand Birds Online includes this sentence in its page for the Grey Teal:

From what I can tell, prosecutions for the killing of Grey Teal in New Zealand are extremely rare, so how can the Grey Teal honestly be called a species that is protected from hunting in New Zealand?
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Thanks for sharing @Cassidy Casuar.

This is really depressing stuff indeed and it does appear that the law in NZ is falling short of enforcing adequate punishment for those guilty of commiting environmental crime.

All of these are shocking but it is particularly sad to learn about the shooting of takahē and the weka given the conservation status of these species and the case of killing a kea because it was "too noisy" is just a case in point in how vile people can be.

Regarding the grey teal I just had a quick glance at a page and it appears that this species is being considered for being added to the list of game birds that may be legally hunted seasonally.
 
Cassidy Casuar said:
In 2015, four South Island Takahē were shot during a Pūkeko (Australasian Swamphen) cull on Motutapu Island. The cullers were hired by the Department of Conservation and were members of the local deerstalkers association. The cullers were informed of the differences between Takahē and Pūkeko before the cull started. It appears highly unlikely that the cullers were prosecuted.
Pukeko culls halted after endangered takahe shot - NZ Herald
Relief as DOC takahe killing case ends
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Its hardly surprising one does not prosecute an individual for making a mistake doing a job they were hired to do by a government department. What is surprising to me is that such ridiculous risk was taken by the DoC
 
Twenty-two young cinereous vultures rescued in Spain have been sent to Bulgaria as part of a reintroduction project; it is the largest single translocation of its kind. In total, fifty-nine cinereous vultures from Spain have been secured for the Bulgarian reintroduction.

More information can be found in the link below:
Largest-ever Cinereous Vulture translocation takes place - BirdGuides
 
DesertRhino150 said:
Wild Ken Hill, the site of the fenced beaver project in Norfolk, has today announced plans for a reintroduction of white-tailed eagles. Under the proposed plan, 6-12 juvenile birds will be released annually over a 5-year period, with the aim of establishing a breeding population by 2026-2029.

Particularly exciting with regards to this project is that one of Norfolk's leading pig farmers has given their support (among over 20 other farmers, landowners and countryside organisations). It was concerns about predation on outdoor livestock such as piglets that stopped a reintroduction attempt to Norfolk in 2008. Also, some concern on predation upon endangered birds such as bitterns played a role in the halting of the 2008 project; the RSPB has now said it is 'strongly supportive' of the Wild Ken Hill eagle reintroduction.

More information can be found in the link below:
White-tailed eagle may be reintroduced into West Norfolk
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An update on the white-tailed eagle reintroduction to Norfolk - Natural England have approved the project to release up to 60 eagles at Wild Ken Hill. The releases will last for about a decade, the birds will be sourced from Poland (where there are around 1,000 breeding pairs) and the first releases are expected next year.

More information can be found here:
Go-ahead for eagles to be reintroduced to Norfolk
 
Great news.

Why though choose Polish sea eagles over previous releases using Scandinavian birds. I think probably these and Germany,s are more close to original extinct UK populations?
 
In the Netherlands several Wisent-herds have been re-introduced to different areas on on the Veluwe - the largest wooded area in the Netherlands a small herd of 5 animals are living. Now the first calf has been born in this herd making the total number of animals 6 but soon it will even grow more because another cow is also expecting a calf :).
 
I have recently seen this article about the creation of a new government-led species reintroduction taskforce in England.

Among the projects mentioned since the taskforce was announced yesterday, there is the reintroduction of the wildcat and golden eagle to England, the wider release of truly wild beavers, doing a feasibility study into the reintroduction of red-backed shrikes as breeding birds and releasing species such as pine marten and curlew more widely into parts of England where they are absent.

An article about it can be read here:
Wildcats, golden eagles and beavers could return to England
 
Planned re-introduction of captibe bred European minks in Spain ( from the FB-site of the
World Association of Zoos and Aquariums ) :

"
The Tallinna Loomaaed / Tallinn Zoo, in Estonia recently transported 10 European mink to Madrid to be released in the Autonomous Community of Aragon, Spain.
The small carnivores are highly threatened and are classified as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. They will first need to undergo a period of training and then after a month of training, they will be released around the Aragon river and will be monitored with radio transmitters."
 
I have just seen this news about another reintroduction project in Britain. Large marsh grasshoppers Stethophyma grossum are being reintroduced to Norfolk, after an absence of around fifty years.

The project is a partnership between Norfolk Wildlife Trust, Natural England and Citizen Zoo. The first releases actually took place in 2018, with some grasshoppers moved directly to Norfolk from their New Forest collection site while others were bred in captivity. These captive-bred grasshoppers were released in 2019 and 2020. It was in 2020 that the first Norfolk-born male grasshoppers were recorded singing.

A news article from March about the project is included here:
Rare grasshopper being reintroduced to Norfolk

More information about the project can be found on the website of Citizen Zoo:
A Hop of Hope
 
Article abut several ongoing or planned rewilding projects involving marine life, including the reintroductin of giant clams to Fiji, zebra sharks to Raja Ampat in Indonesia (from aquarium-bred sharks), flapper skates to the Netherlands (it is hoped they will be returned there by 2030) and European sea sturgeon to the United Kingdom.

The article can be read here:
A drop in the ocean: rewilding the seas
 
Some research has been published about covert rewilding and its potential to establish a species without being detected. To study this, a hypothetical release of forty Tasmanian devils to mainland Australia was modelled at a variety of locations in New South Wales and Victoria, looking at how the population would grow and how long it would take before it was located.

Three sites - two in Victoria's Alpine National Park and one in Wollemi National Park in New South Wales, were found to have the best combination of suitable habitat, rapid spread rates and low detectability. For example, one model in Alpine National Park predicted that the devils would remain undiscovered for twenty-six years by which time there would be 2,200 devils spread across 2,800 square kilometres. While earlier detection can occur, there was a 95% chance the population would remain undiscovered for at least six years, at which point there would be 100 individuals spread across 700 square kilometres. Once two decades pass before discovery, removal would be expensive and challenging.

Because covert rewilding often follows the denial of official releases, the researcher finds that it is worth considering if a more permissive attitude to official rewilding is required.

There is precedent for unofficial rewilding - releases of beavers in Britain and Belgium have been done illegally, as have releases of polecats in Scotland, Eurasian lynx in France and Switzerland and Tasmanian devils to Badger Island in the Bass Strait.

An article about the research is included here:
https://phys.org/news/2021-07-covert-rewilding-tasmanian-devils-australian.html

The full research paper is included here:
https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/conl.12787
 
DesertRhino150 said:
Some research has been published about covert rewilding and its potential to establish a species without being detected.

https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/conl.12787
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I am scratching my head what this paper wanted to say. I think it should be interpreted in a different way.

Probably many examples of 'covert rewilding' in the paper were overlooked natural survival or long dispersal, or casual escaped pets, not some fantastic guerilla ecological conspiracy. Nevertheless, every one is a practical proof that absence of earlier official rewilding was a mistake. They prove there didn't exist objective barriers like lack of money, conservation technology or environment damaged beyond repair. Examples of unplanned rewilding should be an valuable field test to make official conservation bolder and faster, especially remove bureaucracy, over-cautiousness and complacency with the destroyed status of natural environment.

I think the paper is right in the assumption that most rewilding will be invisible to the people for years or decades, especially very shy animals like Tasmanian devils.

I think also, the optimal rewildling strategy could be trying many places with lower effort, and accepting that some fail. It may be not possible to predict precisely where rewilding will succeed. Trying one or few places with large funds may be actually not the most successful.
 
African wild dogs have been reintroduced to Malawi - although there are some wandering animals there have been no established packs in the country for twenty years. A total of fourteen dogs have been released in both Liwonde National Park and Majete Wildlife Reserve, with the project coordinated by the Endangered Wildlife Trust and African Parks, who run the two protected areas in Malawi.

Information about the release is included here:
Return of the pack: African wild dogs’ epic journey to a new home in Malawi

Not mentioned in the article, but relevant from a zoo perspective, is that the pack of eight dogs (five males and three females) were housed and bonded in an enclosure at Umphafa Private Nature Reserve in South Africa, which is owned by Colchester Zoo.
 
I have just seen this article about the continued success of the pool frog reintroduction in England. About thirty adult Northern pool frogs were transported from Sweden to England each year between 205 and 2008 where they were released at an undisclosed location in Norfolk.

Since then, around 1,000 tadpoles reared in captivity from spawn have also been released at Thompson Common (the last recorded habitat of British pool frogs) over the last four years.

The article is included here:
Northern pool frog project reversing extinction say experts
 
Several local people (hunters and farmers) want to reintroduce moose to Slovakia where it died out 300 years ago and only few individuals wander in from Poland sometimes now. The original idea was to bring in animals from abroad, breed them in captivity and then soft-release them into surrounding forests. Reality proved harder to achieve. They bought just very few animals (it s not cheap to buy them and transfer from Scandinavia), mortality in their pens is relatively high, calves few and not enough to rewild them (they released 2 animals few years back who both died within a year or so, one car accident and one killed by wolves, if I remmember correctly). Now they are down to like 2 females and several males in this program. Future remains open.

Here is short video of recent transport of 2,0 young moose (Markus and Mathias) from Zoopark Chomutov to a small private zoo Zveropark in Žarnovica who participates. Zveropark intensively searches for additional females because they now keep 4,1 and that only female is young.

Video - you can see also some other species kept there.
 
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