The Government’s failure to meet conservation targets has resulted in British wildlife suffering a ‘lost decade’, with many species close to extinction, the RSPB warned. Not enough investment has been made to protect nature, the charity said, while the UK was not meeting international goals for protecting land and sea habitats. Analysis from the UK … Read more
Wildlife populations around the world have declined by more than two thirds since 1970, according to a new WWF report that claims nature is in ‘freefall’ due to human activity including intensive farming and deforestation. The WWF Living Planet Index (LPI) found mammal, bird, amphibian, reptile and fish numbers fell by an average 68 per cent … Read more
The new BBC Director-General should drop Chris Packham if he is serious about staff being unbiased on social media, the head of the Countryside Alliance has urged. Tim Davie should sack the Springwatch presenter to ‘follow through’ with his call for impartiality online, Tim Bonner said. Quoting a speech Mr Davie made today, Mr Bonner … Read more
NATURE Rewild Yourself by Simon Barnes (Simon & Schuster £8.99, 208 pp) How do you fancy sitting on a damp patch of ground for hours on end, not moving a muscle, unable even to scratch your nose when it itches? It may sound like a form of torture, but for Simon Barnes this ‘bottomless sit’, … Read more
A picture of the Amazon ablaze and a very muddy hippo are among images which have scored highly with judges of this year’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest. Highly commended images chosen from almost 50,000 entries to the Natural History Museum’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2020 competition have been revealed. The images include … Read more
Who’s a pretty Bey then? Parrot entertains wildlife park visitors with a perfect rendition of Beyonce hit If I Were A Boy Chico, a nine-year-old yellow-crowned amazon parrot, is a hit with tourists Crowds gather at Lincolnshire Wildlife Park in Boston to listen to its singing Footage of the bird singing Beyonce’s If I Were … Read more
Are 500 big cats are prowling the British countryside? Wildlife expert warns rural UK is home to 250 black leopards and 250 pumas as study finds five carcasses with tell-tale gnaw marks on the bones Dr Andrew Hemmings believes 80 per cent of reports he received are credible He identified bite marks on 5 animal carcasses … Read more
The Isle of Arran is affectionately known as ‘Scotland in miniature’. Which is not a bad promotional line — and an apposite one, given the variety of landscape from highland to lowland, all within a small space. You can fit Arran into Wales 48 times, and a leisurely drive around the island takes just under … Read more
Britain’s oldest polar bear ‘Victor’ dies aged 22 at Yorkshire Wildlife Park Oldest polar bear in Britain dies aged 22 after suddenly falling ill in wildlife park He had terminal kidney failure and after he suddenly fell ill vets put him to sleep Victor was rehomed in Yorkshire Wildlife Park in Doncaster in 2014 By … Read more
Venomous rattle snakes are known to unexpectantly slither out from holes, but what may come to a surprise is that these reptiles also climb trees. The daring feat has been captured by a number of people this summer, who have shared the astounding photos and videos online. A diamondback was seen ‘soaking up the early … Read more