Red kites and goshawks rear their chicks in Welsh woodlands. The Red Kite (Milvus milvus) is a medium-large bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as eagles, buzzards and harriers. The species is currently endemic to the Western Palearctic region in Europe and northwest Africa, though formerly […]
Category: News
Trossachs barn owl numbers boosted by ‘vole feast’
A massive increase in the number of field voles in the Trossachs is helping boost the barn owl population in the area, the national park has said. Evidence last year indicated field vole numbers had swelled 10 times in Scotland – pushing their population into the hundreds of millions. This was good news for barn […]
Bangladesh Helps Threatened Dolphins Stay Afloat
Conservationists and government officials alike are hoping that the Ganges River and Irrawaddy dolphins won’t go the way of the dinosaur—or more aptly, the Yangtze River dolphin, which recently went extinct. The Government of Bangladesh declared three new wildlife sanctuaries to help protect these last two remaining species of freshwater dolphins in Asia. The officials […]
Zino’s Petrel Bounces Back
Zino’s Petrel was Europe’s rarest seabird even before a ravaging wild fire hit the heart of Madeira’s central massif, where this globally endangered bird breeds. The fire, in August 2010, had dire consequences: 25 young and 3 adults were found burnt to death, and of the 13 young birds found alive, only one survived to […]
Snow Leopard Thriving in Bhutan
The first ever snow leopard prey survey in Bhutan’s newest national park revealed astonishing footage of snow leopards scent-marking, a sub-adult snow leopard, Tibetan wolf, threatened Himalayan serow, musk deer and a healthy population of blue sheep, the main food source for snow leopards. This is the first pictorial evidence that snow leopards are thriving […]
Whales ‘stressed by ocean noise’
Noise from ships stresses whales nearby, researchers have shown. Ships’ propellers emit sound in the same frequency range that some whales use for communicating, and previous studies have shown the whales change their calling patterns in noisy places. Now, researchers have measured stress hormones in whale faeces, and found they rose with the density of […]
Ladybird decline driven by ‘invading’ harlequin
Ladybirds native to the UK and other European countries are declining fast as the invasive harlequin species spreads, scientists have shown. Researchers found that seven out of the eight native British species they studied have declined, with issues also identified in Belgium and Switzerland. The harlequin is an Asian species brought in for pest control, […]
SeaWorld sued over ‘enslaved’ killer whales
Five killer whales have been named as plaintiffs in a lawsuit which argues they deserve the same constitutional protection from slavery as humans. A US judge is considering a complaint by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals’ (Peta) against SeaWorld. It is reportedly the first time a US court has heard legal arguments over […]