Wild Isles: starling murmuration in BBC documentary reveals as much about people as it does about birds: Starlings flock to Brighton Pier. SamuelJB/Shutterstock I’m sitting on the sofa, watching starlings. There are thousands of them circling above and around me, swirling into spectacular, ever-shifting shapes. They curve and loop in a hypnotic dance, merging at …
Swimming pools v wild swimming – a germs expert on which is worse: Sally Anderson/Alamy Stock Photo Wild swimming has grown massively in popularity in recent times. Not only is swimming outdoors a pleasant way to enjoy the sunshine, fresh air and green leafy surroundings, it can also help to relieve stress and elevate our …
The animals and plants that only exist in captivity – and why time is running out to restore them to the wild: The Socorro dove (_Zenaida graysoni_) was confirmed to be extinct in the wild in 1981. Johann Alexi/Freigabe-Nachweis, CC BY-SA It was April in 1981 when a party of four camped for two days …
Reintroducing top predators to the wild is risky but necessary – here’s how we can ensure they survive: Collared leopard being released into North Ossetia, Russia in 2022. Pavel Padalko, CC BY-NC-ND Large carnivores are critical to the balance of an ecosystem. In Yellowstone National Park in the western US, grey wolves keep elk populations …
Dartmoor wild camping ban shows why Britain needs a universal right to roam: Dartmoor ponies freely roam the moorland. William Barton/Shutterstock When the owners of the 4,000-acre Blachford estate in Dartmoor, a vast moorland in south-west England, recently won the right to exclude campers from their land, it demonstrated how fragile the right to enjoy …
Bird flu: UK is seeing its largest ever outbreak – which may prove particularly deadly for wild birds: In the UK, more than 150 cases of bird flu have been reported between September and November of this year alone. Mark Agnor/ Shutterstock The outbreak of avian influenza which has hit the UK since the autumn …
Climate change is causing endangered African wild dogs to give birth later – threatening the survival of the pack: African wild dog with pups. Manoj Shah/GettyImages Wildlife are responding and adapting to climate change in various ways. Some adaptations are more obvious. Flowering plants, for example, are blooming sooner each year in parts of the …
Wild chimpanzees and gorillas can form long friendly associations that last decades – new research: Chimpanzees are highly social but recent research suggests they can be with gorillas too. apple2499/Shutterstock To survive, animals compete for resources, be it food, mating partners or territory. But a ground breaking recent study shows chimpanzees and gorillas form friendships, …
Why ‘mercy’ killing wild animals is so controversial: Freya the walrus was killed in Oslo after officials decided she posed a threat to humans. Sheard Photography/Shutterstock Two wild animals that strayed from their ordinary habitats and into close proximity to humans were recently killed in high-profile cases. The life of Freya the walrus was ended …
A nice South African City image: British Library digitised image from page 431 of “The Wild Sports of Southern Africa … Fifth edition [With plates.]” Image by The British Library Image taken from: Title: "The Wild Sports of Southern Africa … Fifth edition [With plates.]" Author(s): Harris, William Cornwallis, Sir [person] British Library shelfmark: "Digital …
Why it’s crucial to safeguard the ancient practice of finding wild honey with birds: Yao honey-hunters harvesting a honeybee nest in Niassa Special Reserve, Mozambique, where human-honeyguide cooperation still thrives. Photo by Jessica van der Wal In parts of Africa, a small bird called the Greater Honeyguide (Indicator indicator) helps people search for honey. It …
Avian flu has jumped from chickens to wild birds and is spreading fast: Seabirds like gannets appear to be particularly at risk. Coatesy / shutterstock After a series of localised outbreaks in the past few years, avian flu has re-emerged as a major driver of bird deaths across the UK. Until the past few weeks, …
A nice Kings Beach image: NW Honor Frankfort MI 1960s FISHERMEN LINING THE BEACH Cohos and Kings introduced to Lake Michigan at the Platte River & the SPORT FISHEMEN WENT WILD for this new kind of FUN Image by UpNorth Memories – Don Harrison Image automatically curated and published by www.free-mail.co.za – CLICK HERE to …
Banning wild meat is not the solution to reducing future disease outbreaks: Happy Auer/Shutterstock There have been widespread calls for a global ban on the sale and consumption of wild meat. Following the spread of COVID in early 2020 (which is thought to have originated in bats), over 200 conservation organisations signed an open letter …
A cool Paternoster image: Cape Columbine Nature Reserve, Wild Flowers Image by wattallan594 Cape Columbine Nature Reserve surrounds the Cape Columbine lighthouse which is the last manned lighthouse built on the South African coast. Both the headland and the lighthouse derive their name from the sailing ship Columbine which ran aground 1.5 kilometres from the …
A nice Paternoster image: Cape Columbine Nature Reserve, Wild Flowers Image by wattallan594 Cape Columbine Nature Reserve surrounds the Cape Columbine lighthouse which is the last manned lighthouse built on the South African coast. Both the headland and the lighthouse derive their name from the sailing ship Columbine which ran aground 1.5 kilometres from the …
A nice South African City image: Drive until you find wild flowers… Image by Martin_Heigan Escape from the City and drive until you find fresh air and wild flowers… Wild flowers: Bulbinella latifolia subsp. latifolia photographed on Kamiesberg (just outside Garies, Namaqualand, Northern Cape, South Africa). Martin – [Home Page] [Photography Showcase] [My Free Photo …
African wild dogs have a feeding queue: why it makes sense: Megan Claase Whether it’s a fancy dinner party or a routine family lunch, meals can be highly social affairs. And patterns of food sharing – or otherwise – can shape or describe relationships. But this is not unique to humans. From the “finders keepers” …