INEWS reports badger culling could be “phased out” across England and Wales if trials for a new cattle vaccination process against TB, which start next year, prove successful. More than 30,000 cattle are slaughtered each year to prevent the spread of bovine tuberculosis, at a cost of £100m to the taxpayer.
Badger photo by Sally Langstaff under creative commons.
The Observer reports is bison will soon be roaming our woods again, other long-lost species such as wild cats should follow to increase biodiversity…A small herd is to be released into Blean Woods near Canterbury in Kent, in a lottery-funded project led by the Kent Wildlife Trust and Wildwood Trust.
Country Living report hedgehog rescue centres have reported a sharp rise in the number of gardening-related injuries, warning households to be extra vigilant when it comes to using tools such as strimmers, lawnmowers and garden forks.
The Guardian reports on two stories about the changes we’re seeing to wildlife as a result of Covid-19 lockdown. Check out at least one of these stories if only to see the unusual, but beautiful sight in their photo of a herd of fallow deer graze on the lawns of a housing estate in east London (sorry FNW don’t have permissions to copy it here).
The first reports deer roam city streets and hedgehogs can safely cross roads… but a radical policy shift is needed to protect wildlife in future, say campaigners. Britain’s wildlife may be thriving during the current lockdown but its long-term future is looking bleak, according to leading conservation organisations. Nikki Williams, head of campaigns at the Wildlife Trusts, said: “The current crisis means nature is losing out, because many organisations are having to scale back important work caring for special places, which they usually do with the vital help of thousands of volunteers.”
The other reports empty streets and skies let the birds be heard and leave animals free to roam as well as allowing scientists to examine how humans change urban biodiversity.
Red deer on a road, photo by Dunnock_D under creative commons.
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 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 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 BBC reports a new study that looks at lifespan in wild mammals shows that females live substantially longer than males. The research finds that, on average, females live 18.6% longer than males from the same species. This is much larger than the well-studied difference between men and women, which is around 8%.
The BBC reports researchers are investigating how many hedgehogs are killed on our roads in a bid to help the UK’s declining population. A Nottingham Trent University team will also study whether tunnels under roads could reduce the number of deaths. Experts believe the animals are struggling with lost habitats, increased competition and traffic. Researchers hope this study could help stop the creatures’ decline and provide guidance for planners and developers.
The INDEPENDENT reports more jet-skiers, kayakers, boat-trippers and drones are alarming dolphins and seals. Wildlife experts have celebrated “extraordinary” sightings of Scottish bottlenose dolphins off the Yorkshire coast – thought to be the farthest south that they have ever been spotted on the UK’s east coast. They have also discovered a seal “commuting” between the Isle of Man and Cornwall to have pups and search for food. But the discoveries – among the success stories for UK marine life in 2019 – were marred by finding that a greater number of jet skiers, kayakers and boat-trippers, as well as drones, were causing the marine mammals to panic.