A rare bird seen in Wales just three times since the 1800s has landed in Pembrokeshire. The great spotted cuckoo has been photographed in Penally, causing hundreds of bird enthusiasts, or twitchers, to flock to the area. Experts have said the bird normally migrates from Africa to southern Spain but the warm weather must have […]
Category: News
British farmland butterflies bounce back after 2013 summer
The warm and sunny summer of 2013 enabled British farmland butterflies to bounce back from a crash in numbers in 2012, a new survey has found. Results of the Wider Countryside Butterfly Survey (WCBS) show that the majority of farmland species have recovered after the worst year on record for butterflies in 2012, when 52 […]
Local knowledge sheds light on some of the world’s strangest mammals
One of the difficulties of studying rare and endangered species is that they are, by definition, hard to find. Scientists attempting to understand their distributions and the threats to their survival can spend hundreds of hours in the field while collecting little data, simply because sightings are so few and far between. To find out […]
Finnish reindeer sprayed with glow-in-the-dark liquid to prevent accidents
Glowing reindeer can be spotted in northern Finland thanks to a reflective spray which makes them more visible in a bid to prevent car accidents, Finnish reindeer breeders said on Tuesday. “We are hoping that it is so useful that we can use the spray in the entire region and on all reindeer, from young […]
Scientists propose ambitious plan to save the imperiled lemur
Due to the wonderful idiosyncrasies of evolution, there is one country on Earth that houses 20 percent of the world’s primates. More astounding still, every single one of these primates—an entire distinct family in fact—are found no-where else. The country is, of course, Madagascar and the primates in question are, of course, lemurs. But the […]
New tracking technology reveals birds’ epic and amazing journeys
Today sees the launch of the RSPB Centre for Conservation Science – and one of the most exciting areas of research the centre will be involved in is tracking birds and other animals as they migrate, forage and breed. Last June, at the edge of a small loch on the island of Fetlar in Shetland, […]
Vulture killing drug now available on EU market
Diclofenac is a powerful anti-inflammatory drug that has wiped out vulture populations in India, Pakistan and Nepal. Now, a repeat of this ecological disaster is threatening Europe. Despite the fact that safe alternative drugs are readily available, Diclofenac has been authorised for use on domestic animals in Italy, and in Spain where 80% of European […]
Migrating Monarch Butterflies in “Grave Danger,” Hit New Low
Migrating monarch butterflies are in “grave danger,” according to a report that shows their colonies in Mexico now occupy the smallest area since records began in 1993. The report is based on a survey of Mexico’s Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve done in December 2013. The butterflies, which spend the winter hibernating in the reserve’s forest, […]