Landowners wanting to be allowed to shoot robins, pied wagtails, starlings and other favourite birds seen eating their crops have been rebuffed by the government. But shooters will be able to legally kill or destroy the nests of Egyptian geese and trap and release protected birds like song thrushes, blue tits and dunnocks found foraging […]
Tag: john vidal
Kenyan rhinos cannot survive in the wild, says charity
After roaming free for millions of years, rhinos may be able to survive in Kenya only if they are protected behind fences in sanctuaries, a leading conservation charity has said. Kenya has about 850 black and white rhinos out of approximately 25,000 in Africa, but more than 50 were killed for their horns in 2013, […]
Birds’ migration secrets to be revealed by space tracker
Small birds, butterflies, bees and fruitbats will be fitted with tiny radio transmitters and tracked throughout their lifetimes from space when a dedicated wildlife radio receiver is fitted to the International Space Station next year. The ability to follow the movements of very small organisms hour by hour from space will revolutionise our understanding of […]
Critically endangered species in Sumatra on the road to extinction
Critically endangered wildlife, including some of the last Sumatran tigers as well as rhinos, bears and eagles, could be wiped out if plans go ahead to construct a major road through an Indonesian tropical forest reserve currently being restored by British conservationists. The 51km-road, which would enable 850 truckloads of coal a day to be […]
Hen harrier close to extinction in England
The “Glorious 12th” – 12 August, when the annual grouse-shooting season starts – will be marked on Monday with an acrimonious row between conservationists and the body that represents English and Welsh grouse moorland owners. According to the RSPB, the last two breeding pairs of hen harriers in England failed this year to produce eggs […]
Industry, fires and poachers shrink Sumatran tigers’ last stronghold
Karman Lubis’s body was found near where he had been working on a Sumatran rubber plantation. His head was found several days later a mile away and they still haven’t found his right hand. He had been mauled by a Sumatran tiger that has been living in Batang Gadis National Park and he was one […]