Lower Austria is planning to trap and shoot 40 otters in the very near future. This is in spite of the fact that otters are protected by the European Union Fauna and Flora Habitats Directive. This is in response to appeals from fishermen stating that there are too many otters. The numbers quoted for that […]
Tag: threatened species
POLL: Should Australia’s feral cats be culled?
Feral cats now inhabit virtually the entire Australian landscape, and have been implicated in multiple recent mammal extinctions by conservationists. Illuminating the urgency of controlling cat populations across the continent, a new study in Biological Conservation finds that cats occupy over 99.8% of Australia. The study was conducted by over forty scientists—led by wildlife ecologists […]
The tiny corner of Asia where an Endangered songbird is thriving
The Straw-headed Bulbul Pycnonotus zeylanicus perhaps isn’t much to look at (at least compared to some other birds of South East Asia), but no-one can deny it has a great set of lungs. But unfortunately, it’s this same rich, powerful melody which is threatening to silence the species forever. As we reported during our 2016 […]
Breeding for their lives: the fragile plight of orange-bellied parrots
This summer, I’ve been glued to my phone, awaiting every Twitter notification. But what I’m following is happening in Tasmania’s Southwest Wilderness World Heritage Area, far from celebrities, politics or online trolls. I am watching a succession of videos portraying the wiggling, fuzzy, yellow-beaked bodies of the next generation of orange-bellied parrots. These striking birds […]
POLL: Should the UAE’s exotic pet ban be adopted by other countries?
Cheetahs sitting in fancy cars. Tigers running on the beach. Lions playing with chew toys. It’s easy to find images on social media of pet owners in Gulf countries flaunting their exotic animals—but in the future there likely won’t be as many posted in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The country has banned residents from […]
Exotic populations hold hope for internationally traded endangered species
Many internationally traded species are on the verge of extinction in their native countries. In some cases, traded animals have managed to escape — or have been deliberately introduced — into new locations, forming feral populations. These secondary, often thriving, populations could hold hope for the survival of endangered species in their native ranges, suggests […]
Why is the Red List so important?
Red: a colour of alarm, urgency, passion and energy. For most conservationists, “The Red List” evokes all four of these feelings, perhaps all at once. The Red List tells us which species are most in danger and which to conserve first. It is also a powerful tool for persuading governments to protect threatened species, and […]
Saving Paraguay’s most important site for wildlife
Lying in the small, land-locked South American country of Paraguay, San Rafael is a site wreathed in environmental accolades, glittering with conservation aspirations yet undermined by uncertainties. San Rafael contains two of the continent’s most threatened ecosystems: Upper Paraná Atlantic Forest and Mesopotamian grasslands. San Rafael protects Paraguay’s largest remnants of the former habitat, and […]