Week in wildlife: a piggybacking mouse, heart-shaped vultures and our smallest otter
A harvest mouse was caught enjoying an unusual form of transport – riding a snail in a rainy garden in Norfolk, UK Photograph: Gez Robinson/Caters News
Sleeping beauty … rangers in Upemba national park, Democratic Republic of Congo, mount a GPS collar on a tranquillised elephant. The park covers about 11,650 sq km (4,500 sq miles), making it nearly as big as Lincolnshire and Norfolk put together. About 200 elephants live there, despite threats from militants and poachers Photograph: HughLove is in the air … vultures fly over the decomposed body of an unseen animal in Jammu, India Photograph: Channi Anand/AP
A winged red aphid sucks on a branch, with nymphs (babies) below, in New York, US. Gardeners will not be surprised to learn that female nymphs can be born pregnant, enabling the species to multiply rapidly Photograph: Carlos Chiossone/Zuma Press Wire/Shutterstock
A crested ibis, an endangered bird species once believed to be extinct in China, is released into the wild in Muchuan county, Sichuan – one of 12 that were reintroduced last month Photograph: ChinaYoung offender … conservationists band four-week-old peregrine falcon chicks with metal tags on their ankles at the Union county courthouse in Elizabeth, New Jersey, US Photograph: Mike Catalini/AP
A spiny lizard in the forested area of Cerro de la Muerte, Costa Rica Photograph: Jeffrey Arguedas/EPA
Visitors to the Lake District are being asked to look out for this butterfly, the mountain ringlet, to help scientists protect the rare species. Living exclusively on mountains, it is more commonly found in Scotland than in England, where conservationists say it is so hard to find that they have yet to discover whether numbers are going up or down Photograph: Tim Melling/PA
A magnificent hummingbird prepares to dine in Cerro de la Muerte, Costa Rica Photograph: Jeffrey Arguedas/EPA
Silk webbing from bird-cherry ermine caterpillars covers trees and shrubs along Waterloo Road in Beeston, Nottinghamshire Photograph: Jacob King/PA
Buried treasure … an Asian small-clawed otter emerges from the sand in Nepal. The world's smallest otter, it had not been seen in the region for 185 years and was thought to be extinct, but one was photographed in February, to the delight of conservationists Photograph: Padam Raj Badu
An extreme closeup of a spider in Cerro de la Muerte, Costa Rica Photograph: Jeffrey Arguedas/EPA
A great blue heron joins spectators waiting to watch the SpaceX Starship rocket launch from Starbase, Texas, US Photograph: Sergio Flores/AFP/Getty Images
Close call … a hornet walks along the edge of a carnivorous pitcher plant at the Carolina Beach state park, North Carolina, US Photograph: Erik Verduzco/AP
Members of South Africa's Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals watch an elephant seal who had strayed onto a street in Gordon's Bay, near Cape Town, South Africa. A team of marine wildlife specialists and a city veterinarian sedated the seal and took it back to the ocean Photograph: AP
A privet strider (a kind of sawfly) sits on a leaf in Toronto, Canada Photograph: Creative Touch Imaging/NurPhoto/Shutterstock
Fur baby … a bear cub that was found all alone in Los Padres national forest, California, sleeps at a San Diego wildlife centre. Biologists hope they can return him to the wilderness next year, provided he can learn to find food, seek shelter and avoid people Photograph: AP
A black swallowtail butterfly alights on a purple coneflower in the small town of Waynesville, Illinois, US Photograph: Alan Look/Zuma Press Wire/Shutterstock
Flamingos in the Akgöl wetlands, Turkey Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
Grey seals show their playful side while swimming off the English coast, UK
Photograph: Brian Matthews/Solent News
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The Independent
2 hours ago
- The Independent
Conservationists celebrate as long-vanished bird returns to the UK
Conservationists have hailed the white stork as "an emblem for nature recovery" as they work to reintroduce the long-vanished breeding bird to the UK. Once a common sight in Britain, with their large nests adorning rooftops, buildings, and trees, the birds disappeared centuries ago due to hunting and habitat loss. While migratory storks still visit from the continent, conservationists say that the lack of existing colonies prevents them from settling to breed. Since 2016, a reintroduction project in southern England has been underway, aiming to establish new colonies using rehabilitated injured storks. These colonies are intended to act as a "magnet," attracting other wild birds to settle and breed. The scheme has enabled a wild population of breeding storks re-establish itself for the first time in centuries and delivered unexpected benefits for other birds and wildlife, conservationists say. The white stork project uses rescued non-flying birds from Warsaw Zoo, Poland, some of which are kept at Cotswold Wildlife Park where they breed, with their young released from Knepp Estate, in West Sussex and Wadhurst Park in East Sussex, to encourage them to come back there to nest. Other Polish birds, some of which have injuries that mean they can fly short distances but not migrate, live in or around pens on the estates, breeding and establishing the founding colonies that will attract other storks. At Knepp, the storks are in a landscape that has been 'rewilded' since 2000, with former agricultural land turned over to natural processes using animals including longhorn cattle, red and fallow deer and pigs, whose grazing and foraging help create a mosaic of scrub, disturbed ground and grassland. There are also areas of woodland, the river has been restored to a more natural state and in just a few years, beavers in an enclosure have turned a small stream into wetlands rich in dragonflies, damselflies and other insects. Walking through the scrub and grassland punctuated by large trees, it is hard to miss the metre-tall storks soaring through the skies or stalking through the grass, while the distinctive bill 'clattering' they make echoes through the landscape. White stork project officer Laura Vaughan-Hirsch said they 'love it' at Knepp, where the rewilding process has created healthy soils and habitat and an abundance and diversity of insect life. While they are primarily wetland birds, 'they love mixed habitats, grasslands, woodlands and lovely big trees to nest in, anything that's insect-rich, worm-rich, that's their thing', she said. The first chicks were born to birds nesting in the trees in 2020, and non-flying storks produced their first young in ground nests in the fox-proof enclosure in 2023. This year Ms Vaughan-Hirsch said at least six birds born at Knepp have returned after an annual migration to Africa to nest in the colony, including one who has set up home in the same tree as her parents, and has been stealing nesting material from them. The team are expecting around 40 fledglings in 2025, including youngsters from the ground-nesting storks which are hand-fed pieces of fish to supplement food their parents can source in the pen. The storks' success at Knepp shows that 'sort the habitat out, the soils, insects, healthy water systems, and then your storks will come eventually,' she said. 'We all see the white stork as a big charismatic species but what it really is, is an emblem for nature recovery,' she said. With each chick needing 35kg of food, such as crickets or worms, between hatching and fledging, their survival in the landscape is an indicator of how healthy the ecosystem is. And in turn the storks' nests – which can weigh up to a tonne – in trees or even on roofs attract an array of insects, while wrens, collared doves, house sparrows and, this year for the first time, blue tits have been seen nesting in the vast structures. Isabella Tree, who owns Knepp with her husband Charlie Burrell, said their impact on other species was an 'unexpected outcome' of the reintroduction. 'What are we are seeing is that even species that don't have a reputation as being keystone species have an effect on ecosystems. 'They are doing extraordinary things that we had never really known about.' And she said: 'We think we know what impact a species will have on the landscape, but how can we when our landscape is so fragmented and so depleted. The only way to find out is to try it.' It is ever more important as climate change pushes species to find new habitat to boost populations of even birds with naturally big ranges, she suggests. She said the scheme had naysayers in the beginning – including conservationists who did not think it should be attempted or would work. But she said: 'The absolute joy and excitement is that they are now flying to Morocco on migration and coming back and nesting and having chicks and interacting with wild birds and bringing wild birds back with them as pairs.' And the storks are a 'totem' for wider river catchment restoration and a way of connecting people with nature, she said. 'We have such a long relationship with these birds, from thousands of years ago, from Egyptians, and ancient Greeks and ancient Islam these birds have been cherished, and they're somehow in our DNA. 'We recognise ourselves in them, they kind of walk like us, they look like brigadiers on a parade ground when they're walking across the fields, and when they're flying they look like pterodactyls,' she said. Further projects to reintroduce storks are under way in Cornwall and Devon. And at Knepp it is hoped the birds will spread out from the estate and start nesting away from the current colony, raising the possibility that, in some areas at least, they will become a familiar sight in the skies, trees and on rooftops again.
BBC News
7 hours ago
- BBC News
Bird flu confirmed in wild gull in Whitehaven
A herring gull found dead has tested positive for bird flu, the Animal and Plant Health Agency has confirmed. The bird was found in Whitehaven and the agency said it was aware of a number of other wild bird deaths in the area. Whitehaven Harbour Commissioners said a number of positive cases of avian influenza had also been reported in the Whitehaven Harbour area. A spokesman said that people should not "panic" but refrain from touching or picking up dead or sick birds and report any discoveries online. Earlier in the year bird flu was found in Burnopfield, Lazonby in Cumbria and in dead swans found in a park in Chester-le-Street. Follow BBC Cumbria on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
BBC News
8 hours ago
- BBC News
Kent's rare snow leopard cub dies after just one month
An animal sanctuary has announced that its rare snow leopard cub, born just last month, has cub, nicknamed Little Lady, was born to mother Laila at The Big Cat Sanctuary in Smarden, Kent, on 10 May after months of dedicated work by it has been confirmed that Little Lady died late on Wednesday night, though her cause of death is not yet known."We are all devastated by this news," said Cam Whitnall, wildlife expert, conservationist and managing director of the sanctuary. Snow leopards are listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature red list, with an estimated 2,700 to 3,300 mature adults remaining in the Lady was just the second cub to be born at the sanctuary. The first was her sister, Zaya, in Lady's birth followed months of work by primary trainer Simon Jackaman, who built the trust necessary for mother Laila to voluntarily participate in ground-breaking ultrasound sessions."While deeply saddened by this loss, our commitment to snow leopard conservation and the European Endangered Species Breeding Programme remains as strong as ever," said Mr Whitnall."Every life is precious and this loss, though profoundly felt, reinforces the vital importance of our work to protect these magnificent and vulnerable big cats."The sanctuary said it remains committed to helping maintain a genetically healthy captive population to provide "a critical safety net for the future of this elusive big cat"."These moments are never easy, but they reflect just how important our work is," Mr Whitnall added.
