Video cameras attached to mine-hunting US Navy dolphins have filmed them hunting and eating fish and, to the scientists’ surprise, swallowing venomous yellow-bellied sea snakes. It is the first time video and sound has captured bottlenose dolphins feeding on live fish, from the bursts of sonar clicks used to pinpoint the prey to the victory […]
Tag: damian carrington
The first wild bison to roam in Britain in thousands of years have escaped from their enclosure
The first wild bison to roam in Britain in thousands of years, three gentle giants escaped from a corral early on Monday morning in the Kent countryside. A dense commercial pine forest is intended to be transformed into a thriving natural woodland by the animals’ natural behavior. Their enjoyment of rolling around in dust baths […]
Lion poaching: the brutal new threat to Africa’s prides
“That’s fresh, just a few hours old,” says Kris Everatt, pointing at a clear print of a lion’s paw in the hot dust. “It’s the ghost pride.” The print is female. A bigger male print is soon spotted, also leading towards a precious water hole, then a smaller one. “A cub, less than two years […]
Shooters set their sights on UK’s last remaining ruddy ducks
It is American, oversexed and over here, but the days of the ruddy duck in the UK are finally numbered, with the latest culling data revealing that just 10 females remain. The shooting of the final few – at about £3,000 a bird – will mark the end of half a century of occupation by […]
UK dragonfly numbers may be down after wet winter, conservationists warn
The iridescent dragonflies that flit alongside the UK’s waterways could become a rarer sight in coming years after this winter’s deluge, the Canal and Rivers Trust (CRT) have warned. The mosquitoes and midges that dragonflies prey upon may increase as a result, boosted by the pools and puddles left by southern Britain’s wettest winter for […]
‘Badgers are moving the goalposts’ says Owen Paterson of cull
The controversial badger cull in England has been branded a “farce” by opponents after ministers confirmed the marksmen have been forced to seek extensions in order to kill the minimum number required. Despite the government slashing by two-thirds in 12 months its estimate of the number of badgers in the Somerset cull zone, marksmen still […]
Badger cull has killed less than half the number of animals intended
The controversial badger cull in England has failed to kill even half the minimum number of animals needed to ensure tuberculosis in cattle is curbed, sources have told the Guardian. Scientists say the failure may well result in more rather than fewer bovine TB infections, while cull opponents are calling for an immediate end to […]
Do you support the Badger culls which start next week?
England’s controversial badger culls are set to begin on the night of 26 August, the Guardian has learned. The start of the shooting of badgers, aimed at curbing tuberculosis (TB) in cattle, will come after an injunction sought by the National Farmers’ Union to ban certain protesters from farmland is heard in the high court. […]