The Daily Mail reports experts from Italy and Belgium studied populations of red and grey squirrels. Grey squirrels pass parasites onto red squirrels that make them forage slowly. The presence of greys also alters the reds’ relations with their natural parasites. The team said that the pressure faced by the reds may lead to their extinction.
Photo by Denis Fournier under creative commons.
The BBC reports in this video that as the UK enters it fourth week of lockdown, conservationists say they have seen some hidden benefits of the restrictions in the natural world.
With fewer people in urban environments and much less traffic on the roads, scientists say there could be gains particularly for our native mammals.
Photo by jans canon under creative commons.
The Times reports Britain will become far more self-sufficient in tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and other produce under plans to tap heat from sewage farms and pipe it to giant greenhouses. Low Carbon Farming, which is building two wastewater-heated greenhouses in East Anglia, has identified sites for 41 more greenhouses, each larger than the Millennium Dome and located near sewage farms.
The BBC report that for many of us trapped in our homes during the coronavirus outbreak, our gardens offer sanctuary.
But what plants, insects and animals can we expect to see at this time of year? And how can we help everything flourish?
Nick Acheson, from Norfolk Wildlife Trust, filmed this report from his back garden explaining what to look out and what to do as spring comes into full swing.
The Telegraph reports bears should be reintroduced into the British countryside one day, the new head of the Wildlife Trusts has said, as he argues the loss of the species is as significant as if we lost the works of Shakespeare.
Dr Craig Bennett, who was previously the CEO of Friends of The Earth, now starts as the chair of the wildlife charities and has been enlisted to turn the nature reserves into a campaigning force.
Photo by cloudtail the snow leopard uncer creative commons.
The Guardian reports the clearing of ancient woods for HS2 is to proceed this month after the high court refused an emergency injunction and judicial review of the government’s decision to proceed with the high-speed railway.
HS2’s felling of woodlands in spring when birds are nesting has been widely condemned by wildlife charities but the conservationist Chris Packham’s attempt to halt “enabling” works was rejected after the court decided there was “no real prospect of success” for a judicial review.
Photo by Birmingham Friends of the Earth under creative commons.
The Times reports more than a century ago Charles Darwin broached the idea that animals could display emotions as plainly as people do. The notion has been controversial. Does a hang-dog expression really show that a canine is ashamed? Will a cockatoo in a state of ennui look crestfallen? Researchers have offered support for Darwin’s proposal by training a computer to decipher expressions in mice.
In a paper published in Science, they showed that the countenance of a mouse can be read like that of a human. Mice grimace in pain and look forlorn when nauseous. It is also possible to tell if they are afraid or delighted.
Nadine Gogolla of the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology, who led the study, said: “A happy mouse tends to move every part of their face towards the stimulus, towards the front. Their face looks almost a bit squished. Their ears lay down and point forward; their nose moves towards the mouth. And they stick their tongue out and smack their lips.”
Photo by Fenners1984 under creative commons.
The Times reports the cheering chirruping of house sparrows, once common in gardens, has declined drastically over the past four decades. A generation after numbers plummeted, however, there is hope.
At the 41st annual birdwatching weekend held in January an average of 4.7 house sparrows were seen, prompting hopes that they have turned the corner. Almost 1.3 million house sparrows were seen over the weekend. Experts believe the mild winter may have helped smaller birds, which are susceptible to cold conditions.
The Guardian reports as rivers and wildflower meadows in the UK struggle to recover from repeated flooding, the ecosystems they support are collapsing.
The damage flooding does to humans has been well-documented, but wildlife populations are unseen casualties, with some ecosystems taking decades to recover. “It is frightening to think that we have only just begun to see what might be ahead with our climate. The losses could be profound,” says James Hitchcock from Herefordshire Wildlife Trust.
Photo by willi_bremen under creative commons.
The Guardian reports animals are getting some peace and people are reconnecting with nature, but wildlife crimes may be going unnoticed. Moles are daring to clamber above ground to hunt for worms, oystercatchers are nesting on deserted beaches, and overlooked plants such as ivy-leaved toadflax are gaining new friends.
The shutdown of modern life as we know it is liberating British wildlife to enjoy newly depopulated landscapes. But conservationists say the impact is not all positive, with wildlife crimes going unreported and vital work including monitoring impossible to carry out.
Mole photo by Link576 under creative commons.