Beavers back
214 days ago
I for one, was very pleased to hear of the announcement by Environment Minister Michael Russell, for the go-ahead for up to four beaver families to be released in Knapdale, Argyll, on a trial basis.
It is perhaps not surprising that this keystone species is being re-established after some 400 years into a relatively remote area of Scotland – once more common in southern areas of our islands – the ecosystem we call Britain has changed somewhat over the intervening years and for it to stand a chance of thriving, it needs more space and resource than would be available to it now. The Beavers we are to get (due to be captured later on this year and held in quarantine) will come from Norway and will be as close to the extinct animal as possible, inline with over 20 country’s similar schemes within Europe, and are due to be released in spring 2009. The quarantine is a safeguard against ‘Beaver Fever’ – caused by the Giardia intestinalis parasite – for which there has been a suitable amount of scare-mongering going on (incidentally; this is a perfect example of why I don’t have a commenting enable here – I can’t be bothered with the ensuing diatribe – send me an email if you want). Mind you, as usual there is the predictable opposition from some quarters around the proposed site, who can only envisage problems, but that is generally the nature of a particular beast being driven by considerable unenlightened inertia. Thankfully, many perceived pests are gradually making a comeback, when the requirement for diversity has been recognised as an imperative.
However, there have been misguided releases of the animals before things were properly sorted and put in-place, and this could only end up being bad news for the animals in question and their species cause in general. We don’t want another Mink happening. Re-introduction of this type needs very careful controls, so it is good that the trial will be run over five years by the Scottish Wildlife Trust and the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, with project monitoring by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH).
Up to 20 animals only, are expected to be released at first, which will be tagged, so if it really does go pear-shaped they can potentially be caught-up. Let’s hope people can get used to Beaver activity as well as Beavers getting used to Scotland. If it does all go well, there is another re-introduction site planned for 2010, but there will have to be adaption by both parties I feel.The Dam Beavers Also, do we really have the stomach to control the exploits of what is being billed a “cute” little animal if and when they start treading on toes, balance is required – I wonder who is the most adaptable after all?
Primrose
251 days ago
One good thing coming out of Europe’s swathe of agricultural directives, is the Countryside Stewardship Scheme.
It is especially true this year, with the grass having a really slow start, as the sheep graze-off everything that dares to poke it’s head above ground – hence the hedgerow flowers are getting hammered. The primroses are growing well in the copse that has been freshly thinned and securely fenced from the livestock, also now the newly planted hedgerows (under said CS Scheme) which have to be fenced and rabbit netted, are allowing the flowers to flourish.
You probably can’t tell from this photo, but this plant sports the pin-eyed variant of the flower.
Whales Revenge
343 days ago
There’s a petition going around campaigning to prevent whaling for so-called ‘scientific research’ – it’s getting mighty close to reaching the target millionth signature – make sure it does.
Farewell 2007...
370 days ago
…and to the Yangzte river dolphin or Baiji. Not that I ever met one, but I feel sad about the high probability of it’s passing – the first cetacean species (and the sole example of the Lipotidae family) to be driven extinct by humans.
This is a stern warning when considering the fate of the Gulf of Mexico porpoise, the Vaquita. Likely to be extinct in 2 years, the vaquita suffers in shrimping nets and positive action has to be taken to help this creature. If anything can come out of the baiji’s extinction, then it will be knowledge gained from the failure of the efforts to save it, which can be applied to helping the vaquita.
Hello 2008…
…and welcome a frog disease, chytrid fungus, kit rid. Over breakfast this morning I listened to David Attenborough warning of the deadly frog disease which is spreading rapidly. It may not be new, but the rate of it’s spread is worrying scientists because it’s going much faster than the animals can evolve resistance to it. Why is it moving so quickly – is global warming speeding this up – or is it just an increase in international amphibian trade. The individual frog may not be as high profile as the Baiji, but collectively, they are a vital part of life on earth.
Open Country
565 days ago
Just been listening to Lindsay Waddell on Radio 4’s Open Country . He was (with others) talking about the Black Grouse and some of the work I was involved in. At the moment he’s whistling Golden Plover, just as I was doing a few weeks ago in Scotland.
I worked with Lindsay in Teesdale for 10 years, fabulous country.
EDGE
658 days ago
Seems like our friend the Saiga has made it onto the front page of the EDGE website, although he’s ranked at 62 on their list.
Launched back in mid January this year, the Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered (EDGE) program makes for sad reading. As they launched, it is suspected that their No. 1, the Yangtze River Dolphin, may already have gone – just as we find out about another species – the Clouded Leopard. Now, that’s a high profile animal if ever I saw one.
Snow and Saiga
660 days ago
It’s been blowing blizzards through all day here, following on from the wet of recent days, not good for the newly born lambs that are popping out now. On a nearby relation’s farm, they’ve had quintuplets.
The site is pretty well up and running again, now all written using TextPattern but it actually started out as an uberdose Wordress theme called Zero – just found it easier to create the extra pages and features needed in TxP.
Anyway, enough of that. I heard about another new animal today that is on the verge of extinction, the Saiga. Yes, I know there are probably literally millions of species that I haven’t heard of (and some even that nobody knows of) that are on the verge of extinction, but this little fella is actually a reasonable size – big enough to eat in fact – and that’s been half his problem.
Apparently there had been protection of little known species by the old USSR, but since it’s collapse this protection ended and the combined ills of poverty and demand for Saiga horn in traditional Chinese medicine, has led to the state it finds itself in now having suffered a 96% crash in it’s population.
Not the prettiest of creatures you may say, reminds me of some alien types from films (I’m sure they get their inspiration from nature, I know H.R. Gieger does) with this specially adapted flexible nose to filter dust in summer and warm air in winter. However, just because it doesn’t have the high profile ‘pull’ of Lion or Elephant, is not to say that it doesn’t have an important part to lay within it’s ecosystem and contribution to the wealth of the natural world.
Many creatures are in danger of slipping though the net and away from us altogether and that’s why I support the FFI – where I heard about the Saiga – as they champion equally unglamorous or obscure species in accordance with the Convention on Biological Diversity. I think he deserves a bit of help.
conservation,
software,
textpattern
Wolves again
695 days ago
Further to my entry about the re-introduction of Wolves in Scotland, I saw an article about Wolves to be hunted if removed from U.S. Endangered List.
There are obvious scale differences between Scotland and the Rocky Mountains and one would have thought that if anywhere, the Rockies would provide more than adequate space for both Man, his animals and Wolves to co-exist, but still some states are saying they would bring back wolf hunting. The perceived threat is to cattle and game animals, however it appears this is largely scaremongering and perhaps just an excuse to hunt wolves again and the fact that animals such as the Elk change their behaviour in the presence of a natural predator again – making it appear as if less numerous because it plays it safe by retiring to more inaccessible areas and therefore more difficult to hunt. Sounds like more of a challenge to me, if you’re a true hunter.
So, the discussion surrounding the Rockies Wolves should be interesting for those considering the more intense Scottish issue and the possible privilege of once again having a more balanced and natural ecosystem, which enriches our existence in so many ways.
Snow and Cranes
700 days ago
The first snow flurries of the season have just arrived here, must say I’ve been looking forward to it and I hope we get a good covering for a while. The last few days have been superb and the night frosts have been welcome as well – helping kill the bugs and allowing farmers to spread slurry – but it’s driven away the wading type birds from the beck.
I saw this story about some Cranes being killed by storms in Florida, on the National Geographic site. The were being “escorted” – led by microlight – and is quite a blow to the endangered Whooping Crane population, with only 1 out of 18 surviving out of the dubbed “Class of 2006”.
This story reminded me of a French guy Christian Moullec who started a quest to save the lesser white-fronted goose by leading them from Lapland to Holland. What a fantastic idea, now for me, that would be something amazing to get involved with – flying and conservation!
The giraffe painting is progressing (and the new kitchen!) – just a rough sketch here of the ‘subliminal’ idea behind the painting…
The emphasis
706 days ago
So, the debate about reintroducing Wolves into the Highlands of Scotland raises it’s head again.
I, personally, would like to see a return of a more fully balanced ecosystem, which would help re-establishing trees, plants and birds – by controlling the red deer numbers – but obviously there would be implications for farmers and their livestock. A rolling back of time to when Wolves ran in Scotland will need a re-education of not only the people who live and work in that place, but a particular education for those that visit. I can’t imagine really the great visiting population being prepared for Wolves in the hills, having lived in areas that attract a lot of visitors, there seem to be problems enough with encounters of farm livestock and inappropriate clothing, never mind potentially dangerous wild animals. As I’ve often said before, people generally are getting more and more divorced from the natural environment, so big wild animals with teeth could be far too much for many.
However, such a reintroduction scheme could also give us the chance for a sea change for the better, in the way that wild areas are regarded, a chance to change from what I see as a slippery slope to regarding the countryside as a picture post card – back to a functioning environment that could be a little bit more challenging and exciting!
Of Rivers and Man
752 days ago
I don’t think I’ve seen so much water around as at the moment. Walking across the fields is like walking in a permanent puddle, the stock that remain outside are poaching the ground badly and driving over to the Lake DIstrict yesterday, I soon discovered that the road drains can’t cope either.
This doesn’t deter Rufus from swimming the rivers though, although I’m sure I saw a look of surprise on his face when the boiling flood water wipped him off downstream on his first crossing. This canine swimming usually takes place on a stretch of river where (for some reason and at great expense) the farmer has seen fit to straighten the course of the river, cutting through the meanders of ages that have left their mark in the valley. As a consequence the water is now eroding the river bank at a faster rate on his neighbour’s land, as well as making inroads into restoring it’s previous meandering path. Altogether a rather pointless exercise.
In huge contrast, I received this photo of an Ericson Skycrane fire-fighting helicopter over the Victoria river from a Yahoo Group buddy in Australia.
We spend millions on coastal erosion, which would also appear to be ultimatelty pointless, but to what ends do we go to peserve what we’ve built or reclaim from the sea, especially in the face of an increasing rate of climate change with attendant sea level rises? As with many of these issues, I think we are looking at things about face, we should be concentrating on moving with the changes and allowing plant and animal migrations, whilst at least trying to miinimise our impact upon any change and degradation of our environment.
Today, I see the announcement of the probable extinction of the goddess of the Yangtze . If this proves to be correct, the small, nearly blind dolphin known as the baiji will be “the first large aquatic mammal to have gone extinct since hunting and overfishing killed off the Caribbean monk seal in the 1950s”. It apparently couldn’t withstand the pressure of man’s use of it’s environment – I hear David Attenborough’s words at the end of BBC’s Planet Earth series and it’s morally high time to “cherish” what we have left.
On a lighter note, I love the New York Times’s review of Windows Vista by David Pogue, there are a few around, but it’s short, to the point and I like the Pogues.