Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2017 i BBC Wildlife Magazine

 Our amazing cover picture is the result of a camera-trap placed on a high-altitude trail in the Himalayan country of Bhutan. French photojournalist Emmanuel Rondeau was working with WWF this spring on assessing how wildlife corridors in the area were working for the benefit of the local wildlife when he caught that extraordinary shot of a tiger. It is proof that the philosophy of the Bhutan people, their belief that their physical and mental well-being is all-important and dependent on the preservation of their natural environment, is crucial to the survival of the few remaining and precious wild tigers. As you’ll see from Rondeau’s beautiful images on p80, tiger symbolism runs through all aspects of Bhutanese life. Especially important is the involvement of the children. The picture of a classroom…

BIRD-EATING MALLARDS Mallards have catholic tastes – plants, invertebrates, amphibians, fish and now, it seems, other birds. The journal Waterbirds has published observations of a group of the ducks in Romania hunting young wagtails and redstarts, which they flush from vegetation before killing and eating them. CREATING CANNIBALS According to research in Nature Ecology & Evolution, when under attack from beet armyworm (pictured), tomato plants know how to protect themselves. They increase production of chemical defences to the point that the caterpillars are better off eating each other. FORWARD THINKING Ravens can plan ahead – something only great apes and humans were thought capable of. Science reports that, given the choice, ravens reject an immediate food reward in favour of a special tool that will give them access to a…

SUDDENLY HE IS UPRIGHT, ALERT, FACING OUR WAY, MAKING AN EXPLOSIVE ‘PUFFING’ SOUND. A wind is blowing from the east, sending dust devils spinning across northern Kenya’s plains as our Samburu warrior guide, Sammy Lemiruni, explains how to track black rhino on foot. We must walk silently in single file and obey his hand signals. We are in Samburu, en route to the 120km2 Sera Rhino Sanctuary which, in February this year, became the first community-owned sanctuary in East Africa to offer a pioneering rhino-tracking safari to tourists. I am one of the first guests. It is hot – the rains are late and the gneiss rock face of Ololokwe, the monolith sacred to the Samburu tribe, is hazy. The snaking, ochre road is pot-holed and lined with flat-topped acacia…

“REMATCH? NEXT TIME… WARMER WATER.” BRITISH BEE-EATERS Bee-eaters nesting in a quarry in Nottinghamshire hatched chicks this year, only the third time this has happened in the past 10 years. Seven pairs took up residence in East Leake quarry, and three produced young, but they were unable to fledge any chicks because of poor weather. SUNFISH DISCOVERY A team of scientists from Murdoch University in Australia have identified a new species of sunfish, the extraordinary group of fish with huge, stiff, flat bodies and no tails. This fourth species, the hoodwinker sunfish, was discovered on a beach near Christchurch in New Zealand.…

What are you doing in New Zealand? We are commited to eliminating all possums, rats and stoats by 2050. These introduced species threaten our native wildlife – endemic birds, especially – and cost our economy NZ$70m (£40m) every year. How? We already know how to remove these animals from small islands, so it’s partly about scaling up our efforts. But we must also move beyond conservation as purely the responsibility of the government, which only manages a third of our land area – two thirds is privately owned. We need to come up with new ways to control them, too. What sort of ways? New poisons, baits and traps, but we are developing genetic engineering solutions, too – one idea is to disrupt the gene that controls reproduction and spread…

“I LOVE THE IDEA YOU CAN BE DEBATING THE NHS AND OLIVER SHOUTS, ‘WHAT ABOUT HEDGEHOGS?’” It’s a blisteringly hot day in Central London in early July, and some 40 people are listening attentively to natural history TV presenter Steve Backshall handing out gongs to MPs. First up is a special mention for Oliver Colvile. “Oliver is well known as a champion of the hedgehog,” says Backshall to low murmurs of appreciation from the audience. “He frequently mentions hedgehogs in debates and – it says here – has gained ‘a degree of notoriety over it’. I love the idea that you can be in the middle of a debate about the NHS or immigration, and suddenly Oliver shouts out, ‘But what about the hedgehog?’” And it’s certainly true that Colvile…

Constituency Bristol East Champions Swift The RSPB asked if I would champion the swift because it’s an urban bird and I represent an urban constituency. I hooked up with a group called Bristol Swifts and went to see the home they’ve got with swift boxes. It took them years to attract the swifts, but they’ve got webcams now and it’s absolutely fascinating. We had an event at Bristol Zoo, and architects were talking about how you can make sure all new-builds have swift boxes in them, which is something I’m very keen to push with Bristol Council. I think Exeter’s done it and a few other places.…

How did you find stories? Sometimes it’s just serendipity. For the Rockies episode, while travelling around Montana I stopped for a coffee with a freelance cameraman who told me about a cougar using a deserted ranch nearby. We drove straight to the ranch where we found some trails, which led to us capturing unique nocturnal footage. How did you source footage of elusive creatures? I was keen to include wolverines, so we contacted cameraman Andrew Mankse who’s bonkers for wolverines – he also loves sitting in a hide for 12 hours at a time, at sub-zero temperatures, without moving a muscle. And the practical challenges? Where we filmed ‘glacier birds’ nesting in the Quelccaya ice cap, it was well over 5,000m and the crew spent days acclimatising. It was bitterly…

What’s the Pine Marten Recovery Project? The project, run by the Vincent Wildlife Trust (VWT), aims to restore viable populations of pine martens to Wales and England, focusing on areas within the marten’s natural range. It involves the translocation of pine martens from Scotland to Wales, where they were on the verge of extinction. How do volunteers get involved? In mid-Wales, volunteers assist with radio-tracking martens, and help to make and erect den boxes, set up and monitor hairtubes, hunt for scats (droppings) for genetic and dietary analysis, and install and check remote cameras. What have volunteers achieved? One of our volunteers recently installed a remote camera near a den box he thought was being used by a female marten with kits. Not only did he get incredible footage of…

JOANNA EEDE Joanna visited Kenya to report on black rhinos. She says, “This conservation model integrates the survival of the Critically Endangered species with tourism and the welfare of local people.” See p20 AMY-JANE BEER For writer Amy-Jane, the burgeoning biodiversity at Three Hagges wood-meadow near York is a beacon of hope. “It’s a classic case of, if you build it, they will come,” she says. See p64 KATE RISELY Kate has heard many migration tales while working for the BTO, but was still amazed by the journeys of birds passing the Portuguese coast. She says,“This area is an incredible global crossroads.” See p72 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,…

EXPIRED SHREWS You’re more likely to hear a shrew squeak from among vegetation than see one – alive, that is. Dead common and pygmy (pictured) shrews are a frequent sight at this time of year: many of the short-lived insectivores perish before reaching their first winter. GODWITS GALORE September is a great month for watching godwits, sandpipers and other wading birds in Britain, as a many-plumaged mixture of juveniles and returning adults throng our coasts and wetlands. For many this is merely a pit-stop; others stay here until spring. FRUIT LURES Check out the last bruised and battered blackberries, as well as windfall apples, plums and pears. The fermenting juices lure wasps, hoverflies, bees and red admiral, comma and speckled wood butterflies. FOUL PLAY Fly agaric (opposite) is far from…

• BIRDS WHO’S A PRETTY DRUMMER BOY? AUSTRALIA’S PALM COCKATOOS MAKE THEIR OWN DRUM KITS – AND KNOW HOW TO USE THEM. As plenty of YouTube videos testify, some parrots can move to a rhythm. Others can use tools. But only one does both together. It has long been known that male palm cockatoos fashion drumsticks from branches, which they use to tap out a beat on a tree. And new research shows that they maintain a remarkably consistent tempo over long periods. “It is part of a broader display involving up to 29 different types of whistles and screeches, head bobbing, wing spreading and crest erecting,” says Rob Heinsohn of the Australian National University. “The elaborateness of the entire package is being judged by the females. “Males make the…

POSITIONS ARE POLARISED. MANY WILDLIFE LOVERS ARGUE THE CULL WON’T HELP FARMERS. Summer’s end is a busy time for badgers. Hedgerows glisten with blackberries, orchards drip with plums and tasty maize stands tall – inviting treats for badgers needing to fatten up for winter. Across an expanding slice of western England, there’s another treat. Feeding stations, free food, conveniently close to setts. But when badgers stop there their lives end abruptly when they are shot using infra-red night-vision. This is the fifth year of England’s most emotive wildlife controversy: the badger cull. Our largest surviving carnivorous animal, protected by law, is being killed to reduce bovine TB (bTB) in cattle. The arguments are familiar and positions are polarised. Many wildlife lovers argue the cull is cruel and won’t help farmers.…

1946 First wildlife radio programme, The Naturalist, broadcast from Bristol. It turns into a series. 1953 Severn Wildfowl – the first wildlife TV outside broadcast – airs live from Peter Scott’s reserve at Slimbridge in May. He follows with a series called Wild Geese. 1955 Launch of Look, also presented by Scott. It was to run until 1981. The first film is about foxes. 1957 Official opening of BBC Natural History Unit in Bristol’s Whiteladies Road. Launch of Faraway Look, presented by Scott, which travels as far as New Guinea. 1962 Launch of Animal Magic, presented by Johnny Morris. Its last episode finally aired in 1983. 1967 Launch of The World About Us. The unit’s first contribution is a film about Trinidad and its scarlet ibises. The series is later…

One of Britain’s most elusive carnivores has been confirmed living in Yorkshire for the first time in 24 years. A pine marten – a member of the mustelid family and so related to badgers and stoats – was snapped by a remote camera in the North Yorkshire Moors in mid-July. It is the first confirmed record of the species in Yorkshire since 1993. “We are delighted after four years of searching,” says James McConnell of NatureSpy, which put out and monitors the cameras. In Britain, pine martens are mainly found in Scotland. There are small groups in Shropshire and mid-Wales, while a scat was recorded in Northumberland some years ago. Both Cumbria and the New Forest have had unconfirmed sightings.…

“DINGOS HELP CONTROL FERAL CAT NUMBERS IN AUSTRALIA.” Dingos may look a lot like domestic dogs, but they are far from it. Having split from dogs at least 8,000 to 10,000 years ago, they are genetically and morphologically different. As a carnivore, they fulfil an important role in Australia being the only top predator in the ecosystem. They also help control fox and feral cat numbers, which are decimating some native wildlife. We used to think that dingos got to Australia by being transported here by humans. But recent genetic studies show that dingos could have naturally colonised the country when the land bridge between Papua New Guinea and Australia was still present. There are at least two distinct populations of dingos in Australia – one in the north-west, and…

Constituency West Cornwall & The Isles of Scilly Champions Manx Shearwater Every MP likes to celebrate something about their constituency that’s unique and exciting, and Manx shearwaters do that for me. People are nervous about how we navigate our exit from the EU, and they want to make sure that this kind of work is still funded. So when people do talk about how we can make Brexit work for the UK, it’s got to be more than about jobs and farm subsidies, it’s got to be about how we continue to protect these species and allow them to blossom. Tourism is our bread and butter in West Cornwall, and we know that properly thought-out and funded legislation really works.…

Constituency Taunton Deane Champions Snipe I’m passionate about the environment and work a lot with the RSPB, the Wildlife Trusts and farmers, and I thought I would like to highlight the very good work the RSPB is doing on the Somerset Levels, where they have changed the habitat [in West Sedgemoor reserve] to encourage more snipe to breed. I went down there with my husband and the RSPB guys to see if we could spot any, and we heard them drumming with their feathers. I’d never heard it before – people try to explain it to you, and it means nothing until you hear it for yourself.…

 Why write this book? “IMAGINE DIGGINGA LONG TUNNEL USING JUST YOUR TEETH...” I wanted to help people become more aware of how burrowing animals shape ecosystems worldwide. As a palaeontologist, I also wanted to propose a big idea: that burrows gave animals major survival advantages during mass extinction events. What unexpected animals live in burrows? Alligators, which dig deep, long burrows for protection against cold, drought and wildfires; and warthogs, which can occupy aardvark burrows or dig their own. Which species make the most complex burrows? Some ants – particularly leafcutters – produce incredibly sophisticated burrow systems complete with nurseries, gardens and ventilation systems. Crustaceans also create incredible burrow networks. What’s the latest burrow-related discovery? Massive ancient mammal tunnels have just been discovered in Brazil and Argentina. Scratches on the…

Tweet of the Day RADIO BBC Radio Four Weekdays throughout September, 5:58am The astonishingly successful series of daily bite-sized bird cameos continues through September. Star turns include actor Sam West on the collared dove and grey heron; writer and director Tara Robinson on the barn owl and common tern; musician and composer David Rothenberg on the nightingale, brown thrasher and song thrush; and nature writer and Times columnist Melissa Harrison on the tawny owl, starling, kingfisher and stone chat. Early risers are in for a treat.…

KENIA TOURS AND SAFARIS KENYA A Safari with Kenia Tours provides a platform to witness the wildlife, landscape and people that make up the heart of Africa’s Great Plains. The views across the golden-yellow grasslands dotted with acacia trees and snaking rivers are dazzling. Witness the fastest land mammal on earth – the Cheetah – in its natural habitat. So if you’re searching for an African adventure, look no further. www.keniatours.com kenia@africaonline.co.ke MOUNTAIN VALLEY TASMANIA The Tasmanian Devil, the largest carnivorous marsupial in the world is now threatened in the wilds of Tasmania. Mountain Valley Private Nature Reserve provides the opportunity where these now rare marsupials can be observed as they emerge from the forest to feed outside your log cabin at night. The reserve is also home to many…

1 CHERRY BLOSSOM Mount Yoshino, near Nara Cherry trees were first planted on the north slope of Mount Yoshino more than 1,300 years ago; today some 30,000 trees bloom here. Peak blossom season is early to mid April. 2 JAPANESE MACAQUE Jigokudani, near Nagano During the freezing winters of central Honshu island, the famous ‘snow monkeys’ of Jigokudani Monkey Park warm themselves in its natural thermal baths. 3 RED-CROWNED CRANE Kushiro Wetland Centre Visit Hokkaido in February and March to watch the courtship displays of these elegant birds. The species was hunted to the brink of extinction at the end of the 19th century, but Kushiro’s resident population now numbers an estimated 1,000 individuals. 4 STELLER’S SEA EAGLE Nemuro Peninsula Weighing up to 9kg, this is one of the world’s…

1 NEST TO IMPRESS Baya weavers are small, active birds. I saw this pair in July at Penumuru, a small village in Chittoor District, India, where my parents-in-law live. When we visit our family, my wife and I enjoy walking around the nearby wilderness. This male is hanging onto a half-built nest, flapping his wings to attract the attention of the female flying past. She will inspect the dwelling and only mate with him if she is impressed with his architectural skills. I was delighted to captured this behaviour. Alvis Lazarus, Chittoor District, India 2 MIRROR IMAGE During a family holiday in July I visited an underground hide on the edge of a waterhole in Mashatu Game Reserve, Botswana. Elephants frequently visit this spot for a morning drink. The still…

On 6 September there will be a full moon. A Harvest Moon, so-called because its light enabled people to work through the night to bring in the harvest. But in an age of mechanised agriculture and large farms, when crops can be grown year-round and as monocultures, we have long since lost this deep collective connection with an annual harvest. What does this have to do with yellowhammers? Everything. These sulphur-yellow buntings do best in traditional mixed farming landscapes, with thick, unruly hedgerows for nesting, flowery insect-rich field margins and fallow land to feed the chicks, and plenty of spilt grain, hay-meadow seeds and winter stubble for the lean months. Together with a suite of other once-abundant farmland birds – grey partridge, tree sparrow, corn bunting, skylark, lapwing, turtle dove…

NICK BAKER REVEALS A FASCINATING WORLD OF WILDLIFE THAT WE OFTEN OVERLOOK. Water crickets are very badly named denizens of our rivers and streams. They’re not crickets at all, but true bugs in the order Hemiptera. Predators of the water surface, they use their stiletto mouthparts to stab into and imbibe the bodily juices of any insect that lacks their ability to walk on water, becoming trapped in the surface tension. Because of a superficial similarity to their often larger and more eye-catching brethren, the pond skaters, these bugs can be easily missed, but seek them out in quieter eddies and backwaters and you’ll meet a fascinating insect. Of the five British species, the most common and widespread is Velia caprai. It is not as leggy as a pond skater,…

EPIGENETICS Almost all the cells in a body are genetically identical. Yet that one genetic recipe produces blood, skin, nerve and many other cell types. That’s because genes can be turned on, off, up or down, while leaving the genetic sequence intact. Similar epigenetic effects affect genetically identical individuals. Female mice produce startlingly different, genetically identical offspring through exposure to a chemical that twiddles the dials of a gene in the embryos that influences size and colour. Such differences can endure across many generations, making epigenetics a powerful evolutionary force.…

It’s half past three in the evening; a sudden darkness has swallowed us whole. We are out in the thin of it, that death of summer, standing in rank with the overstretched bracken grown lank beyond its means. The grass turned yellow has all but gone and our paths have widened. Where once we stamped a narrow gorge through the bluebells and ferns, and wove a wobbly cleft across the rides, now its all flat, flaked out, finished. We’ve been to visit the tree. I stroked its iron sides, caressed its ancient corrosion, picked at its crust and canker and gazed into its vast vault, its towering crown reaching in vain to touch the face of God. The truth is… its joy has gone out, it is killing time, waiting…

• David Attenborough first appeared on our screens in 1954, three years before the birth of the Natural History Unit, presenting Zoo Quest. • The Natural World is the unit’s longest-running series. Launched in 1983, it is still running after 34 years. But as it began life as The World About Us in 1967, it is arguably 50 years old. • Wendy Darke was the unit’s first female head in 2012, leading until 2016. In all there have been just 12 heads of the NHU; the longest-serving was the first, Nicholas Crocker, who did two stints in 1957–59 and 1962–73. • £37 million was the highest-ever annual budget for the NHU, in 2007. In recent years the unit has reduced costs with more international co-productions. • With over 100 hours…

“OFFICIALLY, ITS MISSION IS TO CONSERVE, PROTECT AND ENHANCE FISH, WILDLIFE AND PLANTS AND THEIR HABITATS FOR THE BENEFIT OF AMERICANS.” WHAT IS THE US FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE? It is the primary conservation agency in the US, responsible for the management of fish, wildlife and natural habitats. It began life in 1871 as the United States Commission on Fish and Fisheries, created by Congress to halt declining fish stocks, and became the Fish and Wildlife Service in 1940. IS IT A GOVERNMENT AGENCY? Yes, it is a bureau within the US Department of the Interior. This is the department responsible for protecting and managing the nation’s natural resources and cultural heritage. As well the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the Department of the Interior oversees the National Park…

Constituency York Central Champions Tansy beetle I’ve had an interest in wildlife all my life – I’m an outdoors kind of person and grew up in the country, so to have a species that is so unique to the constituency and needs protection seemed an incredible opportunity. The tansy beetle is about 1cm long, an iridescent green colour, and – apart from a small population in East Anglia – is only found along a short stretch of the River Ouse. As the species champion, I’ve been to where it lives in my constituency, talked to academics who carry out research and I promote it at every opportunity.…

If you harboured any doubts about the truth or impact of climate change, Chasing Ice (Netflix) provides a sobering wake-up call. Released in 2012 (and the prequel to new documentary Chasing Coral), this feature-length film follows photographer James Balog through five years of his Extreme Ice Survey project, launched in 2007 to document the retreat of the world’s glaciers. The challenges of setting up photo and video equipment in some of the world’s harshest environments are eclipsed by the alarming results: photos and time-lapse footage revealing the terrifyingly fast (and accelerating) retreat and collapse of ice rivers and sheets. For something a little more light-hearted, try the The Bug Grub Couple (BBC iPlayer, until 5 Sept), which takes you behind the scenes of Grub Kitchen, the increasingly famous insect restaurant…

THE PANEL EMAIL YOUR QUESTIONS TO wildquestions@immediate.co.uk or post to Q&A, BBC Wildlife Magazine, Immediate Media Company, 2nd Floor, Tower House, Fairfax Street, Bristol BS1 3BN Q INSECTS How do cuckoo bumblebees trick other species? A In a bumblebee nest, a single fertile female, the queen, dominates the infertile female workers using a chemical scent – pheromone – identifying her as the egg-laying mother of them all. Usually, all proceeds peacefully, but in some cases an intruder queen kills the nest’s matriarch and takes over. This is intuitively understandable within a species. Cuckoo bumbles, though, specialise in usurping the queens of other species. The cuckoo queen usually targets a host species of similar size and colour patterns, though dominion is almost certainly olfactory. Based on the few recorded observations of…