Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2016 i BBC Wildlife Magazine

• RAVEN BLACK MAGIC A throaty, far-carrying ‘kronk’ – much gruffer than a crow’s caw – is usually the first sign that ravens are about. With buzzard-like proportions, these chunky corvids are twice the size of crows, and have distinctively diamond-shaped tails. Ravens are also exceptionally acrobatic, twisting and tumbling high in the air as if for fun. Late winter is their display season, so keep an eye out for their ‘party piece’ – rolling over to fly upside-down. FIND OUT MORE Raven, rook or crow? Learn with a BTO video: www.bto.org/about-birds/bird-id • COMMON WHELK BEACH BALLS Winter storms dump a host of marine riches on our coasts, including empty egg-masses of the common whelk, a carnivorous snail. At first glance these light, puffy structures, once known as seawash balls,…

A difficult start in life is not necessarily a disadvantage. Biologists have found that the smallest starling chicks learn behavioural strategies that produce fatter adults. Starlings that struggle to compete for food in the nest grow up to forage more quickly and to put more effort into finding food – to the extent that they prefer to rummage through sand for hidden morsels rather than plumping for freely available food nearby. A cost of the extra weight, though, is that the birds don’t fly as well as their advantaged peers, which may make them more vulnerable to predators. SOURCE Animal Behaviour LINK http://bit.ly/21MmN29…

“ITS BEAUTY LIT ME UP LIKE A FIREWORK. IN THE ENSUING FIZZINESS I WAS HOOKED… IN AN HOUR I BECAME A WILDLIFE JUNKIE” How did I get the nature bug? The same way as you. My nucleus accumbens, ventral pallidum, orbitofrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex, together with other parts of my brain such as the medial forebrain bundle, produced what we call pleasure. Needless to say, the neural physiology is complex. But at a crucial moment when I was aged four, in a small garden in the Southampton suburb of Midanbury, the necessary impulses, connections and chemicals collided to produce a cascade of joy when a ladybird climbed my finger and wafted up into the summer sky. Its beauty, absolute perfection, little living legs and brilliantly spotted crimson body…

CHINA China is home to perhaps 60 per cent of the world’s population of snow leopards, with over 1 million km2 of the species’ habitat spread across the far west and around the Tibetan Plateau. Since 2009 the charity Panthera has worked with partners including Chinese NGO Shan Shui and the Snow Leopard Trust on research and community-based conservation activities in Qinghai, Sichuan and Xinjiang. HEMIS NATIONAL PARK AND ULLEY VALLEY, INDIAN HIMALAYA A number of commercial companies run tours to Ladakh with expert guides and trackers, claiming sighting success rates of up to 50 per cent. UK operators offering dedicated snow leopard trips include Naturetrek (01962 733051, www.naturetrek.co.uk); Steppes Travel (01285 787419, www.steppestravel.co.uk); and Wildlife Worldwide (01962 302086, www.wildlifeworldwide.com). NEPAL An estimated 350–590 snow leopards survive in Nepal –…

BRITISH COLUMBIA British Columbia is one of Canada’s most popular destinations, offering spectacular alpine and coastal scenery, and exciting wildlife watching opportunities. Start your trip with a visit to the cosmopolitan city of Vancouver before heading to Vancouver Island – one of the world’s best whale watching spots. Stay in a wilderness lodge and seek out grizzly bears in the Great Bear Rainforest, or sail a portion of the Inside Passage. ALBERTA Travel along the Icefields Parkway, through the impressive Rocky Mountains to Jasper, for the opportunity to spot bears, elk and wolves. Take in the spectacular alpine vistas of Banff, see the turquoise waters of Lake Louise and experience the world-famous spectacle of the Calgary Stampede. Alberta can be easily combined with a visit to British Columbia to encompass…

The future of the UK’s National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) could be in doubt as government ministers have failed to confirm it will be funded after March 2016. High-profile celebrities and conservationists, including Dame Jane Goodall, have called on Defra to ensure the unit’s survival for at least another five years. The NWCU is a “world-leading police unit supporting wildlife-crime investigations”, they said in an open letter backed by World Animal Protection. “Rare bird egg theft, illegal deer poaching, hare coursing and indiscriminate cruelty to wild animals are just some of the problems faced by police around the UK,” the letter added. In a response to questions in Parliament, environment minister Rory Stewart said, “Decisions on funding will be made as part of consideration of the department’s spending review settlement.”…

Conservationists say that Britain’s only urban colony of kittiwakes is threatened by a hotel chain’s plans to stop them from nesting on the Tyne Bridge in Newcastle. As BBC Wildlife went to press, there had been more than 900 objections to a planning application submitted by Gainford Hotels to install netting and an electric-shock system on one of the bridge’s towers. Gainford said this would create “a safer, more hygienic area” under the tower for pedestrians. An estimated 100 kittiwake pairs use the bridge for nesting. It is one of the UK’s fastest-declining seabirds – numbers have dropped by over 60 per cent during the past 30 years. Gainford Hotels has said it is keen to find a solution that works for all interested parties. Local bird experts said preventing…

The poisoning of the Marsh lions in the Maasai Mara has highlighted an issue that is affecting a lot of African wildlife, including one of the continent’s most threatened group of animals – vultures. The key problem is the accessibility of cheap pesticides and poisons, according to a leading conservation biologist. Lions and other carnivores are targeted by herders who put out poisoned carcasses as bait. But according to Darcy Ogada of the Peregrine Fund, the use of poisons has also been taken up by ivory poachers in order to kill vultures so they do not attract the attention of park rangers. A study Ogada co-authored found that a third of all cases of vulture poisoning since 1970 were linked to elephant poaching. Vulture numbers have plummeted in recent decades,…

“ODD AS IT MAY SEEM, EXTREMELY ABUNDANT SPECIES CAN JUST DISAPPEAR WITHOUT PEOPLE NOTICING” To visit a large grey seal haul-out site is to witness a wildlife spectacle: not just the sights and sounds of the animals, but also the smells. A seal uses her flipper to scratch her pup before allowing it to suck milk in a scene that is repeated hundreds of times as far as the eye can see. Donna Nook in Lincolnshire is one of Britain’s biggest sites: it has 3,500 resident seals and 1,200 pups in a good year. And it is a major tourist attraction too, with more than 40,000 visitors each year. The UK has 40 per cent of the world’s grey seals with a population of 120,000, so this is a successful…

PHIL BARNETT Lichens are fascinating; they consist of a fungus and algae partnership. The fungus benefits from the arrangement because the algae produce food by photosynthesis and the algae benefits by being protected and anchored by the fungus. When trying to identify lichen it’s useful to note its form (crust, leafy or bushy), what it’s growing on (the wood, ground or rock), whether or not it has fruiting bodies (flasks, saucers or spots) and what colour it is. I find that it helps to have five or six ‘starter species. These should be common and easily recognised. Once you know these, you can add to your knowledge. Many lichens are sensitive to atmospheric pollution. For this reason they can act as ‘canaries’ – bioindicators of air quality. For example, Ramalina…

EVERY SHAMAN KNOWS THE ESSENTIAL DARWINIAN TRUTH: THAT THE FRONTIER BETWEEN HUMANITY AND ANIMALITY IS POROUS. An uncrushed earthworm makes a spirited bid for escape from your mouth. You’d have thought it would go down into the earthy dark of your oesophagus. But it doesn’t: it heads for the light. It tries to squeeze through the gaps in your teeth. If you’ve had decent dentistry, and there are no gaps, it whirls around like a bolas, lashing your gums and scouring them with its bristly chaetae. After a minute, exhausted, the worm curls up resignedly under your tongue, next to the frenulum. The saliva that pools there seems to sedate it. If you crush it with your teeth it’ll just lie there between the grinding surfaces. They quickly turn to…

THE INVENTION OF NATURE By Andrea Wulf John Murray £25 We know of him through a penguin (pictured above), an ocean current and a basin on the moon – but who exactly was “the lost hero of science”, whose name was given to more things than anyone else in history? Alexander von Humboldt invented nothing; his was a foundation of genius on which lesser mortals built their fame and fortune. But for Humboldt, Darwin would never have stepped on board HMS Beagle, Bolívar might not have liberated half of South America and the USA might not have had the influence of writers Emerson and Thoreau, nor a guiding path for conservationist John Muir. In this illuminating, vivid biography, historian and writer Andrea Wulf reveals a great explorer a century or…

ISLANDS OF EVOLUTION Three parts, due to air in January – check RT for details Islands comprise one-sixth of the land mass of our planet. Cut off by often vast stretches of water, these are isolated kingdoms where the processes of evolution are exaggerated and accentuated, offering ‘lenses’ through which scientists can study how species colonise, spread and diversify. In this new, three-part series for BBC Four, palaeontologist and geologist Richard Fortey does exactly that, visiting three very different tropical islands – Hawaii, Madagascar and Madeira – to unlock the evolutionary secrets of some the world’s most incredible animals. “There’s much more to evolution than the survival of the fittest – the phrase wasn’t even in Darwin’s first edition of On the Origin of Species,” he explains. “I’m going in…

WINTERWATCH 2016 Four parts, Tuesday 26 to Friday 29 January, 8pm If the plummeting temperatures mean that leaving the house is not an option, worry not – the BBC’s Winterwatch team is ready to venture into the wild and feel the cold on your behalf. Yes, Chris, Martin and Michaela have dug out their finest down jackets and woolly hats to return to Mar Lodge, a Highland Estate in the heart of the Cairngorms, to bring you the very best of the season’s wildlife. The team has ambitious plans for this year’s show, hoping to send Martin up onto the highest plateaus to seek out Scotland’s most elusive characters and discover how they manage to survive in the shiveringly austere conditions. The wildlife that the crew aims to capture include…

1 COLOUR CONTRAST The black-naped oriole is found in many parts of Asia flying from tree to tree in search of berries and insects, but rarely sits in the open long enough to be photographed easily. I took this image in December on Penang, an island off the coast of Malaysia. The bird seemed happy enough to pose at the top of a palm tree, showing a striking comparison between its yellow plumage and the green curtain of leaves behind. Simon Goodman, Penang, Malaysia 2 MACRO MOMENT During a cloudy morning stroll near Coimbatore, India, I saw this Asian mantis walking on a leaf. I enjoy practising macro photography so look out for insects while out and about. The combination of the sun looking like a moon and this predatory…

With little to hide behind in the open ocean, avoiding predators and catching prey requires great speed – or a cloak of invisibility. When sunlight passes through water, it becomes polarised – the light waves oscillate in the same plane. Unlike humans, fish are among the many animals able to detect variations in polarisation, which can betray a fish’s position. But new research shows that two species, the lookdown and the bigeye scad, can manipulate and reflect polarised light. Precisely aligned microscopic plates within their skin cells make them harder to pick out against a polarised background than a mirror suspended in the water. What’s next? “It would be exciting if there are polarised warning signals,” said team-member Molly Cummings of the University of Texas. “There could be markings that…

A vampire bat’s habit of regurgitating a portion of their bloody stomach contents to hungry roost-mates is a textbook example of reciprocal altruism – “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine.” But it now seems that such co-operation is more subtle than simple tit-for-tat. Vampire bats are most likely to share their blood meals with close relatives, but they also donate food to unrelated individuals at risk of starvation. When biologists split up family members within a roost, bats were most likely to cope with lean times if they had donated blood to many non-relatives in the past. Feeding non-kin expands a bat’s social network, making it more likely that it will itself be helped in times of trouble. The University of Maryland’s Gerald Carter, who led the research,…

Once more I scan the barren, rocky slopes surrounding the village of Kibber. Even in this remote spot high in the Himalayan foothills of Himachal Pradesh in the far north of India, the odds of seeing a snow leopard are 100 to one. The secretive cat has a beautiful rosette-patterned coat to break up its outline, coupled with an unnerving ability to transform itself into just another rock. “Even a trained researcher can pass within metres of a snow leopard without seeing it,” cautions Yash Veer Bhatnagar. A scientist with the Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF), and India programme director for the Snow Leopard Trust (SLT), Bhatnagar has worked in these parts for over two decades. His team set camera-traps, conduct field studies and strive to reduce the burden that wildlife…

WORDS & PHOTOS DAVID TIPLING David is a wildlife photographer and author with a passion for birds. Seabirds of the World , his next book, is due to be published in April 2016. www.davidtipling.com THE LOCATION SOUTH GEORGIA The South Georgia archipelago lies 1,300km from the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic. Rodents that stowed away on sealing and whaling ships had a devastating effect on the islands’ populations of ground-nesting birds, but millions of seabirds still breed, including 1,100 pairs of wandering albatrosses. The Habitat Restoration Project has successfully cleared the island of rodents: www.sght.org. After a five-day crossing from the Falkland Islands, we finally sighted the snow-capped peaks and glaciers of South Georgia. Some of the happiest days of my life have been spent on this remote island…

Hollywood special effects could not create a more extraordinary face. It appears to have been fashioned from a rusting satellite dish, cheeks broad and flattened into flanges. In the centre, formidable jaws are edged with fearsome yellow teeth and canines that would make a lion proud. This would be a nightmare vision but for a wispy, bright, golden beard and tousled mop of ginger hair crowning his head. He is a dominant male Sumatran orangutan – the even rarer relative of the Bornean orangutan – and he is temporarily unconscious, having been darted with tranquilliser. The ape has slipped from his perch in the crown of a tall tree into a net held taut by rescuers from the Human Orangutan Conflict Response Unit (HOCRU), an inspirational project that is run…

I thought that Lucy McRobert’s column in the December 2015 issue was really interesting and highlighted the importance of women’s role in conservation. I’ve been an amateur conservationist and birdwatcher for over two years and I find that my local hides are mainly frequented by men, many of whom seem to think women are too noisy, soft and over-excitable. I have often been ‘shushed’ and told to be quiet, which I find intimidating. In the past, I felt that I couldn’t report this conduct to the managers of the hides, but I’m no longer willing to accept this behaviour and I will address it in the future. I’m also a volunteer with the RSPB and, from what I’ve seen, there are more women than men volunteering. The women I’ve worked…

One day in 1785, beneath the dark pines of Aberdeenshire, the last British capercaillie was shot and killed. That, at least, is how the story goes. In reality extinctions are rarely so simple – and the same goes for reintroductions. The capercaillie is one of the most charismatic species of the Scottish Highlands. The male, in particular, is a hugely dramatic bird, as large as a turkey cock, with a striking ivory-white bill and glossy black plumage – its colourful sheen once earned it the nickname ‘peacock-of-the-woods’. But the caper is also highly secretive and, at present, severely endangered. Damp, old-growth Caledonian pine forest thick with low-growing blueberry (bilberry) is the caper’s preferred haunt. But this is being winnowed away, while wet, cold springs threaten the survival of its chicks,…

As children we learn about evolution from thrilling images of fossilised feathered lizards and early humans, illustrating how species split and changed over millions of years. These grand stories mean that we often think evolution operates over geological timescales, but in fact it can be fast – taking place under our noses. Enter the blackcap. Like most warblers in Britain, this migratory species does not generally visit gardens, frequenting woodland, hedgerows and scrub, and flies south for winter, normally to the Mediterranean. But roughly 40 years ago people started noticing increasing numbers of blackcaps in the UK at the wrong time of year. Even more surprisingly, these wintering birds were often seen in gardens. Their numbers steadily increased. Moreover, and unusually for warblers, these blackcaps began joining tits and finches…

LIVING WORLD REVISITED Sunday 24 and 31 January, 6.35am Going back more than 40 years, BBC Radio 4’s Living World strand – a series focusing on intimate encounters with our best-loved British species – is something of a broadcasting institution. This month, Chris Packham delves into the archives to revisit two particular programmes and bring them right up to date. The first of the pair, originally broadcast in 2008, sees presenter Lionel Kelleway head to a Norfolk woodland at dusk after an unseasonably warm February day in anticipation of a British winter wildlife spectacle: thousands of rooks coming in to roost. This particular roost has connections to the Domesday Book and once was thought to contain as many as 100,000 birds. The second rewinds to 1991 for a conversation with…

WILDWINGS WildWings offer the best choice of bird and wildlife cruises, from the Amazon to the Antarctic and everywhere in-between. We have over 20 years experience of trail-blazing out on the oceans, from Baja California to the Russian Far East. Join us next spring in the Sea of Cortez for the best whale and dolphin-watching in the world! www.wildwings.co.uk Tel: 0117 9658 333 ORCADIAN WILDLIFE Steve at Orcadian Wildlife offers tailor-made small-group tours across the beautiful Orkney archipelago. Seabirds, raptors, seals and cetaceans are blended with 6,000-year-old Neolithic history to provide experiences that will last a lifetime. Picts and Vikings complete the story with their brochs and drinking dens. You will see a plethora of birds at breathtakingly close quarters. www.orcadianwildlife.co.uk Tel: 01856 831240 TRANSTREK Travel with Transtrek to Kenya,…

“ADULT MALE WALRUSES AVERAGE 3.2M LONG AND WEIGH 1,2001,500KG, MAKING THEM TRULY FORMIDABLE OPPONENTS.” We were on the sixth day of a 10-day photographic expedition around the Svalbard archipelago in the High Arctic, and zooming in our two inflatable boats to a beach on the island of Nordaustlandet where walruses haul out. We usually land on the northern side of the spit and walk across to the herd of walruses on the other side. But the wind direction meant that there was quite a swell coming from the north, so this time we decided to land on the south. And I was glad that we did. For just as I was steering for a piece of driftwood on the beach that looked like a good place to get ashore, a…

Spitsbergen is the largest island in the Svalbard archipelago. Lying entirely within the Arctic Circle, its rugged, glacier-topped mountains rise majestically from the icy Arctic waters, wild and unspoiled. Colourful tundra meadow displays are complemented by glaciers, creating a dramatic and unforgettable landscape. Spitsbergen is renowned for its diverse wildlife. The island is one of the best locations on Earth to observe polar bears - the world's largest carnivores - in their natural habitat. Reindeer are easy to photograph grazing on the rich tundra, and look out for walruses, either feeding in the rich, icy waters or hauled out onshore. Indeed, a walrus haulout is a mesmerising spectacle, these lumbering, Arctic giants creating a comical scene as they vie for a choice spot in the blubbery pile. For birders, the…

"CIRCLING KITES FIRE UP WINTER SKIES, THEIR PLUMAGE THE COLOUR OF ASH AND FLAME” Watching a swirling mass of red kites on a crisp winter day, it’s hard to believe that in the early 1900s just a handful of breeding pairs were left in the British Isles, all in mid-Wales. Reintroduction schemes and better protection boosted our population to more than 1,800 pairs by 2011 – and the true total is considerably higher when you factor in young, non-breeding individuals. “If there’s snow then our fields can attract 1,000 birds” says Chris Powell, a sheep farmer in Powys whose family began feeding kites in the winter of 1992. The experiment at Gigrin Farm, originally to improve winter survival in juveniles, is now a thriving ecotourism business, with 2pm feeds 365…

Much of what we know about badger ecology comes from long-term studies at Wytham Woods near Oxford and Woodchester Park in Gloucestershire, where scientist Steve Carter of the Animal and Plant Health Agency is based. “In winter badgers don’t hibernate, but spend far more time in their setts so we see them less,” he says. “They do emerge to forage in mild weather, generally being more active further south and if they are regularly fed by people.” Despite female badgers eating less and living off fat reserves, winter is nevertheless when they give birth to their cubs, which are helpless, blind and barely 12cm long, with a 3–4cm tail. Yet this makes sense in the long run, explains Steve. “The aim is for the cubs to start venturing above ground…

Poaching and habitat loss have led to hybridisation between the forest and savannah types of African elephant, say researchers. The forest elephants of Central and Western Africa are easily distinguishable, both physically and genetically, from the more familiar savannah type. Among other differences they are smaller, with straighter tusks and rounder ears. However, the two types produce fertile hybrids where their ranges meet, and many conservation bodies, including the IUCN, now regard African elephants as a single species. Biologists led by Samuel Wasser of the University of Washington have now found three significant zones of hybridisation: one on the border of Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo; another in the Central African Republic; and a third in Benin and Burkina Faso. This could be seen as evidence against…

With over 250 primates of 20 different species, Monkey World is the largest sanctuary of its kind in the world. With over 250 primates of 20 different species, Monkey World is the largest sanctuary of its kind in the world. The monkeys and apes that live at the park are mainly there as a result of being abused or neglected in their previous circumstances. The expert team of primate care staff work around the clock to rehabilitate and integrate the animals into natural living groups. The centre also takes part in several endangered species breeding programmes and is the home of the European crèche for orphaned orang-utans. Recently the crèche has become home to two baby Sumatran orang-utans, one who tragically lost his mother a week after she gave birth…

The pelage is smoky grey with dark rosettes and spots – ideal camouflage among rocks and scree slopes. Woolly, whitish fur comprising 12cm-long outer hairs keeps the belly warm. Enlarged nasal cavities warm chilly mountain air before it reaches the lungs. The thick, metre-long tail assists with balance – important when cresting narrow ridges and negotiating treacherous crevasses. A resting cat can wrap its tail around its body like a scarf. This stocky cat is 0.9–1.15m from head to rump and weighs 35–55kg, and has a large, muscular chest. Deep breaths help it to absorb oxygen from the thin, high-altitude air. Short forelimbs and long hind legs enable the cat to spring up to 9m – handy when targeting nimble blue sheep and ibex. Broad, furry paws act as snowshoes,…

Canada is the world’s second largest country and a land of great cultural, geographical and biological diversity. Bordered by the Arctic, Pacific and Atlantic oceans, its varied topography ranges from the soaring Rocky Mountains to boreal forests, sprawling prairies, glacial lakes and coastal rainforests. Canada contains an abundance of wildlife from coast to coast, and many of its regions offer superb birdwatching opportunities, but its large, charismatic mammal species are arguably its major draw. Cox & Kings, the world’s longest established travel company, arranges group tours and private travel throughout Canada. The adventurous traveller can go in search of killer whales off the coast of British Columbia, spot polar bears in the wilds of Manitoba from the safety of a tundra buggy, join a cruise through the formidable Northwest Passage,…

Iberian lynx are returning to the countryside near Madrid after an absence of more than a decade. A mosaic of low wooded hills, valleys and farmland about 65km west of the capital provides an ideal habitat for the world’s most endangered cat – but it was declared extinct here in 2002. Ongoing efforts to boost numbers in Spain and Portugal – including captive-breeding, and measures to increase its habitat and the vastly depleted stock of rabbit prey – led to its reclassification from Critically Endangered to Endangered in 2015. Even so, its wild population is estimated to be just over 300. “The lack of rabbits is a nightmare,” explained Ramón Pérez de Ayala, head of the WWF-backed Life+Iberlince recovery programme. “Lynx are dependent on them, but that’s not the biggest…

A veritable wonderland, British Columbia is known for its great outdoors, abundant wildlife and spectacular scenery. Boasting 10 rugged mountain ranges, ancient woodland and dramatic coastlines, Canada’s westernmost province is home to 142 species of mammal, including 23 varieties of whale, and 488 species of bird. Perfect for nature lovers and keen photographers alike, this independent tour offers the opportunity to discover British Columbia’s amazing wildlife in its natural habitat and take in the region’s fascinating scenery. You will visit the floating Knight Inlet Lodge, set in the secluded Glendale Cove, which is one of the best locations in the world for watching grizzlies. You will also take to the waters of Clayoquat Sound in search of majestic grey whales, transient orcas, humpbacks and bald eagles, and watch black bears…

WILDEBEEST More than one million wildebeest migrate around the Serengeti ecosystem in an endless annual cycle. They are closely followed on their travels by lions and other predators, while crocodiles ambush them as they cross the Mara and other rivers. The herds form a wildlife spectacle like no other. MAGELLANIC PENGUIN The global population of these penguins is estimated at 1.3 million pairs, most of which breed along the coast of Argentina. They are also found in the Falkland Islands, though the numbers there have been declining sharply since the early 1990s. MEXICAN FREE-TAILED BAT A single cave in Texas is home to 20 million of these bats, the largest aggregation of any mammal in the world. The emergence of the bats every evening to feed is considered one of…

1 AFRICAN PENGUIN Boulders Beach, Cape Town There’s a breeding population of some 2,000 African penguins here – it’s one of the most northerly penguin colonies in the world. The species is famous for its braying, donkey-like call. 2 AFRICAN WILD DOG Kruger National Park Kruger is the only area in South Africa with a viable population of African wild dogs, the most endangered large carnivore in the country, though encounters cannot be guaranteed. 3 SOUTHERN RIGHT WHALE Hermanus The whales migrate to the South African coast to give birth, and can be easily spotted from the shore. Highly distinctive white ‘callosities’ and v-shaped spouts give them away. 4 ATELEUR Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park The eagle’s name translates from the French as ‘tightrope walker, because of the way that the bird…

NATIONAL NEST BOX WEEK 14–21 February 2016 This month the BTO’s National Nest Box Week is encouraging everyone to do their bit for birds by putting up a nestbox. For species such as tree sparrows and pied flycatchers, nestboxes can be a key part of conservation plans, but even common garden birds benefit too – which is where you come in. The BTO also wants volunteers to take part in its Nest Box Challenge survey. Senior research ecologist Dave Leech says: “All we ask is that people look in their nestboxes on a regular basis during the breeding season and count any eggs and chicks they see inside.” The data will be used to explore differences in the timing of breeding and numbers of chicks fledged between years. Jo Price…

THE HIDDEN RIVER Three parts, starting Tuesday 9 February, 9pm Deep in the heart of Guyanian Amazon, in parts shrouded in cloud and undetectable from the air, flows the Essequibo River – one of the longest waterways in South America. Uncharted and wild, it meanders through jungle and plunges over rocky cliffs for 1,010km until it meets the Atlantic Ocean. This new three-part series sees a team of film-makers and scientists set out to locate the source of the Essequibo, embarking on an adventure through jungle and swamp and encountering a variety of wildlife along the way.…

13-21 February BIG SPLASH Children are being encouraged to get closer to nature and have fun jumping in puddles during half term by taking part in the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust’s Big Splash. The puddle-jumping championship will take place across the UK at the WWT’s nine wetland centres. www.wwt.org.uk/bigsplash 6 February DINO SNORES FOR GROWN-UPS On 6 February you can set up camp near Dippy in Hintze Hall at the Natural History Museum, London, to enjoy a night of music, food, science, art and cinema. Tickets cost £180 (£162 for members). http://bit.ly/1IjS6uw 7 February SEEDY SUNDAY The UK’s longest-running community seed-swap event returns to the Corn Exchange in Brighton from 10.30am to 4.30pm. Expect a host of talks and stalls on gardening, growing, ecology and sustainability. Tickets cost £3 on…

Selous Safari Company offers a portfolio of three boutique camps in the premium game-rich wildernesses of Southern Tanzania. Splendid isolation, bush-bespoke elegance, unique game experiences and warm hospitality are the distinctive keynotes of the Selous Safari Company experience. www.selous.com JONGOMERO, Ruaha National Park Under the magnificent shade trees, on the banks of a seasonal river in the remote southern sector of the Ruaha National Park, Jongomero is gloriously isolated. Far from the madding crowds, this secluded idyll offers a chance to discover true unadulterated wilderness. On a sweeping river meander lies the camp bar, lounge and restaurant; an open wooden terrace shaded by a high thatched roof and filled with sumptuous sofas and striking furniture made of reclaimed dhow wood. After game experiences by vehicle and on foot laze around…

CANADA Bald eagle Bison Black bear ICELAND Arctic fox Reindeer Blue whale UK Basking sharks Grey seal Puffins SPITSBERGEN Polar bears Walruses Atlantic puffins QUEENSLAND Koala Platypus Manta ray INDIA Red panda Python Hyena SRI LANKA Elephant Buffalo Sloth bear MALAWI Leopard Lions Elephant NAMIBIA Black rhino Cheetahs Zebras COSTA RICA Sloths Red-eyed tree frog Howler monkeys GALAPAGOS ISLANDS Fur seal Gecko Giant tortoise USA Mountain lion Grizzly bear Gray wolves…

Times are changing for this small, unspoilt hidden gem as its wildlife starts to emerge from the shadow of its other attractions. Malawi already offers a range of wonderful and thrilling safari experiences, and its parks and reserves are relatively untrodden, giving a feeling of exclusivity, adventure and discovery that is sometimes lost in Africa's better-known wildlife destinations. Resources to protect and run Malawi's parks have been limited in the past, so they have never quite matched up to their more illustrious neighbours in terms of animal numbers, particularly predators. However, this is all rapidly changing. Three of the country's protected areas are now managed under internationally-funded partnerships, park development is improving and animal translocations are in progress. Indeed, Malawi’s wildlife is well on the way to rivalling that of…