Innholdsfortegnelse for SPE 2017 i BBC Wildlife Magazine

I was on a train recently and tuned in to two students opposite discussing the environmental studies one of them was involved in. The longer he expounded on the state of the world the gloomier became his companion, who clearly hadn’t previously given a thought to endangered animals or habitat conservation. He was amazed by talk of ocean temperatures and plastic pollution, and what a one centimeter rise in sea levels could do to undersea light levels and marine animals. Eventually, I was so affected by the way they were concluding that everything was hopeless and, having just received Elin Kelsey’s article on how important it is to spread good news (p28), I butted in to ask if they knew about the Ocean Optimism movement. There may be a lot…

WHERE Weymouth, Dorset, DT3 5QH COMMUNITY CONSERVATION OFFICER Samantha Dallimore WHY YOU SHOULD VISIT Spring and early summer is the best time to visit Dorset Wildlife Trust’s Lorton Meadows. The air is full of birdsong – whitethroats, chiffchaffs and Cetti’s warblers. WHAT YOU CAN SEE If they’re really lucky visitors may spot kestrels and barn owls nesting at the reserve and can watch them on a screen in the visitor centre. The meadows are dotted with wildflowers, such as early purple orchids and are home to various butterfly species. TOP WILDLIFE SPOT I have two favourite places to spot wildlife – the nestbox cameras in the visitor centre, and our ponds, which are home to palmate newts. JOIN ITS EVENT Join us for a guided wildflower walk on Saturday 3…

• BEHAVIOUR BUMBLEBEE BRAINS THINK BIG TOOL-USE HAS BEEN ASCRIBED TO PRIMATES AND MARINE MAMMALS, BUT WHAT ABOUT INSECTS? They may possess little in the way of grey matter, but bumblebees are capable of learning some unlikely tricks, which they can then teach to each other, according to recent experiments on the insects’ ball-skills. “There’s only a million neurons in a bumblebee brain compared to one hundred billion in a human one,” says Clint Perry of Queen Mary University of London. “We’re realising that it’s not the size of the brain that’s most important – it all depends how it’s wired up.” Perry and his colleagues have trained buff-tailed bumblebees – a common British species – to roll a ball across a platform and into a hole to release a…

ORIENTAL PIED HORNBILL Disappeared from Singapore in the mid-1800s, possibly due to hunting and loss of habitat. But the giant forest bird is now reestablishing itself thanks to the Singapore Hornbill Project. SUNDA PANGOLIN About 100 of these Critically Endangered nocturnal mammals still survive in Singapore. In 2016, one was filmed climbing down the steps of Nanyang Technological University. RETICULATED PYTHON These huge snakes are often found swimming in the Toa Payoh swimming pool. Wildlife consultant Subaraj Rajathurai suspects that the pythons enter through the canal or drains. ASIAN PALM CIVET Widespread in Singapore and usually seen at dusk or after dark, particularly in urban areas where it occupies roof spaces of buildings and forages in gardens. It tolerates living in areas near people. RAFFLES’ BANDED LANGUR A Critically Endangered…

HUMBER HAVEN The RSPB’s newest reserve is an island on the north bank of the Humber that it knew nothing about until four years ago. Since then, it has become clear that Whitton Sands is home to breeding marsh harriers and avocets, as well overwintering hen harriers and pink-footed geese. “TEN YEARS AGO WE MADE A CONSCIOUS DECISION TO AVOID THE WORD ‘ZOO’.” VIRGIN HOLIDAYS Virgin Holidays will no longer sell or promote breaks to new attractions that have aquariums with captive whales or dolphins and will encourage facilities it currently works with to “change exploitative practices”. Born Free described the move as a “potential game-changer”.…

What's wrong with them? Photos and videos are often out of focus and low resolution, producing fuzzy images when enlarged. We automatically fill in the ‘gaps’ that are created in poor-quality images with what we have previously seen and what is suggested by the photograph. How else can they mislead us? Something of a known size may be used as a comparison with the ‘big cat’, but these photos could be taken from a different place or using a different lens, leading to distorted size and shape. It can be difficult to judge distances and how big something really is, leading to an exaggeration of size. Give an example. In June 2009, an alleged black panther was filmed walking along railway lines near Helensburgh, Argyll. The grainy, shaky footage makes…

Feeding birds in your garden is undeniably a good thing to do. You get pleasure from watching them and become more aware of how different species are faring in your local area, plus the birds get reliable sources of food. It’s win, win, win. Except – have you ever considered where and how the bird food you buy is grown? In the UK and much of Europe, the biggest factor impacting many bird species is the way in which we farm, and sunflower seeds, peanuts and millet all have to be farmed. What if every time you refill the feeder outside your kitchen, you are stealing food from one ‘little dicky bird’ to give to another? You’re robbing Peter to pay Paul? Last year’s State of Nature report – published…

BIAZA is the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums, a professional body representing over 100 of the best zoos and aquariums in Britain and Ireland. When you see the BIAZA logo, you can be sure you’ll not only have a great day out, you’ll also be supporting an organisation that prides itself on excellent animal welfare, education and conservation work. BIAZA invites you to be involved in Love Your Zoo week, a nationwide event from 27 May – 4 June 2017, coinciding with half term. What could be better than giving your kids a fun day out while finding out more about the important work being done by your local BIAZA zoo or aquarium? During the week there will be lots of fun-filled activities for all ages at…

Fun-filled days will include workshops, educational talks and competitions as part of an action-packed calendar for the May half term and Love Your Zoo week 2017, at the park from Monday 29 May to Friday 2 June. The UK’s most innovative wildlife attraction, located in Branton near Doncaster, has conservation at the heart of all its activities. All week, the Yorkshire Wildlife Park Foundation will be fundraising for the wide variety of welfare and conservation projects it’s involved with around the globe. Visitors can enjoy a unique walk-through experience, including Amur tigers whose numbers have dwindled to fewer than 500 in the world, and critically endangered Amur leopards, giraffes, black rhinos and rare wild hunting dogs, like the one on the right. YWP is also home to the country’s only…

If you’re looking for a wild day out, visit Crocodiles of the World in Oxfordshire. It’s home to one of the widest crocodile collections in Europe, with 17 of the world’s 24 species, including many that are classed as vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered. These prehistoric animals are fascinating. They have the most advanced physiology of any living creature on the planet and can teach us much about the world, from conservation to habitats, evolution and biology. At Crocodiles of the World you can see them up close in a safe, fun and stimulating environment. Amongst the zoo’s collection are two rare Siamese crocodiles, Hugo and Rebecca. They’re a species found in freshwater habitats in Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand – but with numbers down to fewer than 1000, they’re…

Specialised in aerial pursuit, like its close cousin the peregrine, the aplomado falcon inhabits grasslands from the US–Mexico borderlands to the southern tip of South America. But unlike its more widespread relative, it has traded speed for teamwork. Breeding pairs hunt cooperatively when raising young in late spring: by working together they flush out sparrows and other prey from cover into the open. One falcon adopts a probing role, while the other is primed above, ready to pursue. Hunting solo, these falcons are successful during one in five strikes; teaming up increases their hit rate to over a half. As with prairie dogs, aplomado falcons have suffered from habitat loss across their range. They last bred in the USA in the early 1950s and in northern Mexico only a handful…

Wild Ireland TV Catch up on iPlayer Available until mid-April. It’s your last chance to enjoy this rather beautiful two-parter on iPlayer, which follows laid-back cameraman Colin Stafford-Johnson as he explores the wildest and most remote corners of the Emerald Isle. Beginning amidst the seabirds at Skellig rocks, off Ireland’s west coast, Colin’s journey takes him north to the Blasket Islands, where spectacular numbers of grey seals haul out on the sandy shore; to the Macgillycuddy’s Reeks mountains, patrolled by red deer, and to the sand dunes of Castlegregory, where the clamorous mating calls of natterjack toads fill the spring air. The presenter also seeks out humpback whales, numbers of which are increasing in these waters; introduces the wildlife of his home patch of Clew Bay; and visits the golden…

Q BIRDS How do diving gannets avoid breaking their necks? A Plunge-diving gannets hit the water at speeds of up to 86kph – fast enough to do some serious damage if they were a human diver. The bird’s long, slender neck may look like it would buckle on impact, but the muscles are arranged to lock the vertebrae in place before entry – to the extent that gannets are theoretically capable of withstanding dive speeds of up to 288kph. Other adaptations include a lack of external nostrils, which prevents water from being forced into the head, and air sacs under the skin that cushion the seabird’s breast. Stuart Blackman Science writer Q MARINE MAMMALS Why do seals lie like bananas? A Both common and grey seals often adopt this…

EMAIL US wildlifeletters@immediate.co.uk FIND US ON FACEBOOK www.facebook.com/wildlifemagazine FOLLOW US ON TWITTER www.twitter.com/WildlifeMag WRITE TO US BBC Wildlife , Tower House, Fairfax Street, Bristol BS1 3BN Food for thought I found your story (In Focus, January 2017) regarding redwings and their efforts to find food most interesting. We have a similar situation in Tasmania with Critically Endangered swift parrots, known colloquially as ‘swifties’. These little birds breed only in Tasmania and migrate to the Australian mainland for winter. Their primary food source is nectar from bluegums, whose blossoms vary in location from year to year. There is no way of predicting the precise places beforehand and with forestry being a major issue in Tasmania, there is an ongoing battle to save the trees from being felled.…

CHRIS PACKHAM Chris returns with a new column this issue. He is writing about his local woodland. “Scratchy and I live in the house, but an oak wood in the New Forest is our home,” he says. ELIN KELSEY Elin is the co-founder of a project that aims to engage people with ocean conservation successes. “Our planet has a remarkable capacity to heal,” she says. DHRITIMAN MUKHERJEE Photographer Dhritiman enjoys searching for rare species and exploring interesting ecosystems. “The Rann of Kutch is so dramatic,” he says. “It always surprises me.” GET YOUR DIGITAL COPY Buy a digital edition of BBC Wildlife Magazine for iOS, Android, Kindle Fire, PC or Mac. Visit iTunes, the Google Play store, Amazon or www.zinio.com to find out more. DISCOVER THE BEST OF WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY…

WAKING BATS… Of Britain’s 18 bat species, most are fully active again in April. Among them is the soprano pipistrelle (pictured), a common species often found along lakes, rivers and woodland edge. To take part in a fun and simple bat survey this spring (no bat detector required), visit www.bats.org.uk/pages/sunset_ sunrise_survey.html …AND HOGS The nation’s favourite animals – according to over 9,000 people who voted in this magazine’s 2013 poll – are also out and about after dark this month, foraging in earnest to put on weight. Hedgehog Awareness Week is from 30 April to 6 May: www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/hedgehogawareness-week-2017 SPRINGO BINGO Hawthorn blossom, fresh oak leaves and emerging bumblebees are three of the natural spectacles to tick off in ‘Springo Bingo’, just one of the activities on the RSPB’s revamped website…

POLYMORPHISM There is always some variation between individuals of the same species. But sometimes, a species contains two or more distinct types, or morphs (picture below). The differences may be clearly visible, cryptic (as in human blood types) or behavioural. Often the multiple morphs are capable of coexisting because each excels in different circumstances. Tropical American passion vine butterflies, for example, mimic different poisonous models in different parts of their range.…

For the last 13 years I have walked with the sound of 10 feet. Now there are just six and our whole world rustles to a different rhythm. That gentle metronomic patter of soft treads has changed forever and the woods where we ramble have consequently altered beyond recognition. For now our soundtrack, that part of the symphony which defines this place, that requiem we contribute as we wander the paths that our feet have worn and cut and forged through bluebells, hazel, mud and sod, is louder for the loss of four. And that cascade of silent hollows left absent by the lost footfalls has chased us through the winter and deep into spring. There is no escape even if we trot, jog or run, and we’ve tried them…

Efforts to eliminate the illegal killing of songbirds – or even reduce the scale of it – on Cyprus are being frustrated by a failure to remove the invasive acacia trees which trappers plant to attract their victims. Conservationists say 800,000 birds were taken from the British Sovereign Base Area (SBA) on the south of Cyprus last autumn and then sold to restaurants as the main ingredient of a dish called ambelopoulia. According to the RSPB, protests against the removal of the acacia scrub – where trappers place mist nests and lime sticks – means that 36ha still remains, after more than 20ha had been removed in the previous two years.…

“THE MAIN ISSUE FOR THE SPECIES IS LOSS OF HABITAT FOR AGRICULTURE.” Found from Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and all the way down to Bolivia’s border with Argentina, the Andean bear is the only bear to inhabit South America. It’s a highly adaptable mammal, able to survive in a wide range of habitats: high-altitude, moist-cloud (or montane) forests, lowland rainforests, tropical dry forests and high-altitude páramo shrublands and grasslands. Scientists don’t know how many Andean bears survive in the wild – the largest numbers are probably in Colombia (3,000–6,000) and Peru (about 5,000), but many population estimates were made more than a decade ago. Numbers are certainly decreasing. The main issue for the species is loss of habitat for agriculture. In the past 20 years, some 30 per cent of…

Love Your Zoo week is a great opportunity for the people at Knowsley Safari in Merseyside to engage with guests and find out what they love about nature and animals. As part of the week, the Learning & Discovery team will be out and about engaging with visitors, informing them about their favourite animals, and getting them excited about the natural world. Throughout the week, the zoo’s educators will be giving fun and informative talks at key exhibits, each armed with a mystery bag. These bags will be filled with exciting items, such as a giraffe neck bone, or an ostrich egg which, if you’re lucky enough to see one is the same size as 24 chicken’s eggs! Guests will also love Discovery Station, where there are plenty of artefacts…

Since 1984, Shepreth Wildlife Park has been a refuge for many species. It breeds endangered animals, and has raised £200,000 for projects worldwide alongside the Shepreth Wildlife Conservation Charity (SWCC), founded in 2011. Today there are more than 100 species to discover, with keeper talks and demonstrations throughout each day. Visitors can enjoy indoor and outdoor play zones, tropical exhibits and animal encounter sessions. They can watch animals search for their food and come face-to-face with tigers. The education team is on hand to amaze under-16s with their ‘Discovery Experience’, where children have the opportunity of an all-sensory, hands-on bug encounter. As a member of BIAZA, Shepreth is committed to animal conservation and educating young conservationists. The park is a local champion in Green Tourism, recognised by its GoldStar Award…

EAST ANGLIA Here, the most reliable stone curlew watchpoint is the Norfolk Wildlife Trust Weeting Heath reserve. The visitor centre is open 9.30–4.30 daily between 25 March and 31 July, but hides can be used from 7.00 to dusk; www.norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk/wildlife-innorfolk/nature-reserves. WESSEX There are also hides at Winterbourne Downs RSPB reserve in Wiltshire, from which breeding stone curlews can be observed. Later in the year special tours get even closer (booking is essential); www.rspb.org.uk/reserves-and-events. AUTUMN FLOCKS Stone curlews gather in flocks after breeding, when Natural England organises popular evening tours at its Cavenham Heath reserve in Norfolk (brecklandnnr@naturalengland.org.uk; 01638 721329). In East Anglia, some of the favoured autumn feeding spots are fields with outdoor-reared pigs: scan nearby fields for roosting flocks. EXTREMADURA Roosting flocks of stone curlews are a highlight of…

 What made you decide to write this novel? “THE MORE EXOTIC THE ANIMALS, THE BIGGER THE CROWDS.” I couldn’t get the story out of my mind. The book is based on the real-life adventure of an elephant named Maharajah, who was purchased at auction in Edinburgh in 1872 and ended up walking 320km over 10 days to Belle Vue Zoological Gardens in Manchester. Why did you choose to write for a young audience? I was influenced by my own children, then eight and 11, and wanted to write an adventure book that would appeal to both boys and girls. Kids are also drawn to wildlife stories and have a strong sense of how animals should be treated, which is a major theme of the novel. How much is fact/fiction? It’s…

What’s the aim of the charity? We work to protect and enhance Snowdonia National Park. 2017 marks our 50th anniversary. What sort of work do you do for wildlife and habitats?› We work in partnership to clear invasive species, such as Himalayan balsam and rhododendrons; maintain Snowdonia’s footpaths to help reduce degradation of upland habitats; garden for wildlife at our flagship property Ty Hyll (The Ugly House); and maintain wetland areas. Volunteers also help clear litter, work in our woodlands and carry out surveys – in May and July, for instance, we'll be conducting surveys of water voles and otters around the National Park. Is the terrain challenging? It can be! We work all over Snowdonia in many different habitats – mountains, beaches, woodlands, heathlands, wetlands. It can be very…

“SHEETS OF INTENSE COBALT AND HYACINTH SCENTS… BLUEBELLS ARE A REAL FEAST FOR THE SENSES.” Voted favourite British wildflower in Plantlife’s 2015 national poll, this dainty member of the lily family has always inspired verse and gladdened hearts. By sending up glossy green foliage in February the plants soak up as much light as possible before the shady tree canopy unfurls. “The flower buds that emerge as a small spike form during the previous year’s growing season, but remain dormant in the bulb,” says Trevor Dines of Plantlife. “When the time is right – signalled by a change in the temperature – the stem quickly expands and the flower stalks appear.” Most bluebell displays reach their zenith in late April or May, with variations according to latitude and altitude. “In…

ICHNEUMON WASP The caterpillar, once very hungry, now looks under the weather, no longer a plump, cabbage-consuming obsessive. Its skin crawls; it involuntarily twitches. Beads of yellow erupt over its velveteen flanks. They swell before your eyes, then follows a moment of awful realisation: these are grubs, pushing out through rupturing skin. The caterpillar has become host to the parasitic wasp Cotesia glomerata. Allotmenteers all over the UK may notice holes appearing in the leaves of their prize cabbages, by which time the culprits, caterpillars of the small and large white butterflies, are fairly well developed. Wouldn’t it be nice to have an early-warning system that told us these cryptic species were starting to deconstruct your crop? Maybe if cabbages could light up or scream? Well, in a way, they…

WHAT Barnes Children’s Literature Festival WHEN Saturday 13 May WHERE Barnes, London Beetle Boy author M G Leonard will be discussing her characters from Beetle Queen, the second title in her anthology, at this literary festival for young people. The writer will be talking about entomophagy (humans eating insects) and will be showing the audience edible insects – she also plans to eat some! “I think it’s really interesting that we treat some invertebrates as tasty delicacies and others as revolting and dirty,” she says. Leonard recommends trying cricket cookies and a spicy insect bombay mix. Her talk is one of 60 events taking place on 13 to 14 May. Other children’s authors attending the festival include Lauren St John and Judith Kerr. Ticket costs £5 per talk. Visit…

LITTLE YET LARGE Scientists have discovered a new species of bushbaby, or galago, in Angola. According to the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, it is the largest of the so-called dwarf bushbabies. Many other charismatic species may await discovery in Angola’s forests, which have only recently become accessible after decades of civil unrest. PREHISTORIC POISON A 260-million-year-old early mammal is the oldest known venomous vertebrate. PLoS ONE reports that Euchambersia – a reptile-like creature about the size of a small dog – possessed venom glands just behind the upper canine teeth, which drained into the mouth via a system of grooves. BORDER CROSSINGS A spectacular wasp that rears its larvae on paralysed, living grasshoppers has been recorded in the UK for the first time. The British Journal of Entomology &…

For the finale to the ‘Cities’ episode of Planet Earth II, we wanted to show a futuristic approach to city-greening in the metropolis said to house more species than any other: Singapore. With six million people living in an area the size of the Isle of Wight, this city state is prime real estate. Every square metre is valuable, yet the government is making a real effort to fight pollution, clean up degraded habitats and create space for wildlife to thrive. The smooth-coated otter’s comeback is perhaps the most remarkable of many Singaporean success stories – one we simply had to get on film. It’s notoriously hard to film otters – of any species – in the wild. We knew that a breeding pair of smooth-coated otters and their young…

“WHY IS A CONTINENTAL WARMTH-LOVING SNAIL SUDDENLY DOING SO WELL ON BRITAIN’S COOLER ISLANDS?” The childhood encounter is still in my mind, as vivid as if it were yesterday. I was about six years old, an intrepid explorer of the groves of rosebay willowherb that towered above me on the local waste ground. Fossicking among the leaves one day, I found a creature as fat as my finger, sepia brown with huge eye-spots and skin the texture of vellum. I later discovered that it was the snake-mimicking larva of the elephant hawk-moth, and that initial feeling of amazement has never left me. Whenever I see one now, I relive that sense of wonder. This knack of keeping us young is the most potent and generous gift of natural history. Naturalists,…

WHEN TO GO Hokkaido mid-August ’s tancho . (red-crowned cranes) are best seen November–March, when flocks gather on Kushiro Marsh. Good sites include feeding stations at Akan International Crane Centre and Tsurui village, plus Otawa Bridge. By early April, pairs disperse to breed; watch from a distance to avoid disturbance. WHERE TO VIEW To see thousands of hooded and white-naped cranes, view from Arasaki Crane Observation Centre on Kyushu (pictured) or surrounding paddyfields in November–March. Arasaki is close to the city of Izumi (nearest airport Kagoshima). TOUR OPERATORS Wildlife tour companies offering trips to see the cranes include Japan Nature Guides (www.japannatureguides.com, enquiries@japannatureguides.com), The Travelling Naturalist (www.naturalist.co.uk, 01305 267994), BirdQuest (www.birdquest-tours.com, 01254 826317) and Rockjumper (www.rockjumperbirding.com, info@rockjumperbirding.com).…

“ DUE TO MARINE POLLUTION, MANY WHALE PRODUCTS ARE SO FULL OF TOXINS THAT THEY’RE CONSIDERED DANGEROUS TO EAT.” WHAT IS ABORIGINAL SUBSISTENCE WHALING? The International Whaling Commission (IWC) recognises three types of whaling: commercial, scientific and aboriginal. Norway and Iceland hunt commercially, while Japan uses the highly controversial loophole permitting member countries to kill whales for so-called scientific research. Aboriginal subsistence whaling requires that whaling must be central to the cultural and nutritional needs of the hunters, they must have a long and uninterrupted history of whaling, and the resulting meat and products must be used exclusively for local consumption (not for commercial purposes). WHO DOES ABORIGINAL WHALING? Under the auspices of the IWC, the USA, Russia, Greenland and the Caribbean island of Bequia in St Vincent and the…

SUNFLOWER SEEDS AND HEARTS Sunflower seeds are energy-rich food for a wide range of species, though finches, especially greenfinches, goldfinches, bullfinches, chaffinches and siskins, tend to be the main beneficiaries. PEANUTS Opinions are divided about the value of putting out peanuts for birds, but they attract a number of different species to sunflower seeds – notably blue, great and coal tits, but also great spotted woodpeckers and nuthatches. MEALWORMS Mealworms attract common garden birds that feed mainly or exclusively on invertebrates – notably robins, blackbirds, house sparrows and song thrushes, with dunnocks and blackcaps also possible. NIGER SEEDS Like thistle seeds, niger seeds attract thin-billed finches – goldfinches and siskins (which may also feed on sunflower seeds), plus redpolls. SUET BALLS AND BLOCKS Suet can attract corvids such as jackdaws,…

Paradise Wildlife Park in Broxbourne in Hertfordshire has announced the creation of the Zoological Society of Hertfordshire, a charity organisation aimed at raising funds to support wildlife conservation projects both in the UK and around the globe. To officially celebrate the charity’s launch on Saturday 1 April 2017, Paradise Wildlife Park will open a brand new ‘Penguin Falls’ enclosure for its endangered African penguins. Based on the penguins’ homeland in the south of Africa, this amazing new habitat will provide the animals with a more spacious, natural environment in which to live and breed. And that’s important because Paradise Wildlife Park is one of only two zoos in the UK to be recommended for African penguin breeding. Founded in 1984, the Park is already well known for animal breeding and…

Home to the ‘big zoo’ animals, Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm, the South West’s award-winning 100 acre wildlife park, is a great place for wildlife watching. See majestic African elephants, powerful white rhino, feisty big cats and playful Andean bears – some of the important species that roam our Somerset hills. Internationally praised for its welfare-promoting design and enrichment, ‘Elephant Eden’ is the UK’s largest elephant habitat, offering unique insight into the animal’s lives. At the South American bear territory ‘Andean Adventure’, animal enthusiasts can learn about spectacled bears from the specially landscaped environment with its climbing frames, running stream, pool and caves. Joining in with the national Love Your Zoo week, we invite visitors to take part in our themed programme of events. Find hearts hidden around the zoo to…

CHRIS KNIGHTS FARMER Based in Norfolk’s ‘Brecks’, Chris has been involved in almost every aspect of stone curlew conservation for over 50 years. His dedication was marked with a RSPB lifetime achievement award in 2015. RACHEL HOSIER FARMER On Rachel’s Wiltshire farm, close to Stonehenge, the chalk downland has been restored, sheep grazing has been established across the site, and stone curlew plots are managed annually. GERALD GREY GAMEKEEPER Working with the landowner and farming tenant, Gerald manages a Norfolk shoot in a sustainable way. Boosting insect abundance and diversity has increased chick survival among its stone curlews. JOHN SECKER TRACTOR DRIVER The farm on which John works is one of five in the Feltwell and Hockwold area that belong to the Brecks Nature Friendly Zone. This innovative network promotes…

1 WHALE SHARK Donsol, Luzon Sightings at this elasmobranch mecca are said to peak between February and April, though whale sharks migrate here to feed from December to May. Only snorkelling is allowed. 2 PHILIPPINE EAGLE Mount Kitanglad, Mindanao Previously known as the monkey-eating eagle – it was renamed after it was found to have a much wider diet that includes colugos and palm civets – this bird is said to be the world’s largest eagle in terms of its length or height. 3 PHILIPPINE TARSIER Corella, Bohol You’ll struggle to stumble across this tiny, elusive primate in the wild, but at the Philippine Tarsier Foundation you get to see it in semi-natural habitat. 4 PALAWAN PEACOCK-PHEASANT Subterranean River National Park, Palawan Another hard to see species but reports suggest…