Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2019 i BBC Wildlife Magazine

Sometimes it’s amazing how well wildlife adapts to the obstacles we humans throw at it. Witness our photo story on page 68 that shows how the animals of the Italian Alps co-exist with the country’s most intensive marble workings. More often, though, nature needs a helping hand, and for accidental, as well as intentional, damage to be put right. On page 40, a scientist who worked on Gough Island in the South Atlantic relates what was involved in assessing the scale of seabird destruction by non-native mice, and what will be done about it in the coming years. And on page 32, we look at the salvation from extinction of the world’s only truly wild horse, as well as, on page 62, the innovative solutions to curbing the spread of…

Let’s face it, by March many of us have had enough of winter and are desperate for spring to bring some light back into our lives. For expectant naturalists, the seasonal signposts are all around us. Nothing says spring to a botanist, for example, quite like the burst of yellow provided by primroses, celandines and daffodils. However, for the birders out there, the arrival of this season of rebirth is surely defined by the return of the first of our summer migrants after a winter spent in warmer climes. Data collated over decades, by organisations such as the British Trust for Ornithology, has revealed that arrival dates of our summer visitors to Britain seems precisely controlled, with surprisingly little variation, both between the species and from year to year. In…

Black thunder clouds filled the sky and spots of rain began to fall as our jeep passed through two sets of gates and onto the vast grasslands of Hungary’s steppe. The jeep slid and bounced as the track became rougher but, eventually, after an hour, we found the herd. The horses appeared to shimmer softly through the distant heat haze, their characteristic coloration blending seamlessly into their surroundings. This was my first sighting of Przewalski’s horses (pronounced ‘shurval-skee’), which went extinct in the wild in the 1960s but were reintroduced in the 1990s. I was accompanied here, the reintroduction site at the Pentezug Wild Horse Reserve in Hortobágy National Park, by project leader Viola Kerekes and project assistant Tímea Szabados of the Przewalski’s wild horse team. We were also joined…

For the pika, a relative of the rabbit, found across western USA, it’s never too early to prepare for an impending freeze. These diminutive, mountain-dwelling mammals begin creating their winter stockpiles in late summer, gathering a mix of flowering plants, grasses and shrubs and meticulously arranging them in layers. Warming conditions, however, are affecting the pika’s ability to build these larders. The species is well adapted to the cold, with dense fur and a low metabolism, and is unable to tolerate heat. “When it’s hot, pikas adjust their feeding habits,” says research biologist Embere Hall. “They cut back on foraging time and focus only on high-quality plants.” There’s another climatic twist. Pikas don’t hibernate, remaining active in tunnels in the snow. “But warmer conditions mean the snow is melting, exposing…

Baleen whales are remarkable – with mouths devoid of teeth, and full of bristles, they feed like nothing else on Earth. Quite how their ancestors managed the revolutionary switch from biting and chewing to filtering food has long puzzled biologists. Now, new analysis of a 33-million-year-old fossil points to a surprising answer. Carlos Mauricio Peredo, of George Mason University in the US, likens the development to the evolution of walking limbs from ancestral fins. But there’s a major difference. While limbs and fins are modifications of the same basic structures, baleen is built from keratin, like fingernails and hair, and teeth are made of dentine. The earliest members of the mysticete lineage, which eventually gave rise to baleen whales, had teeth much like sperm whales, orcas and others do today.…

Like many people, I've always fancied owning a tortoise. So, I open up my laptop to search for a chelonian chum. On the website Preloved, I quickly find a pair of tortoises for sale for £175. ‘One marginated tortoise and one spur-thighed [common tortoise], both female,’ the advert says. And ‘four years of age, both living happily together and in a 1.2m vivarium, feeding well on weeds in the summer and mixed greens in the winter.’ Sounds perfect. The advert gives the CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) Article 10 certificate number, required under EU regulations, but it doesn’t fit the format specified by Preloved. Is it genuine? I want to find out. Luckily, the website makes it simple to report any concerns about adverts you spot. Preloved…

“The park guards arrived, sirens blaring, to move the birds along. In unison, they lifted their heads in alarm, beaks raised like swords.” The autumn spectacle of thousands of great white pelicans making landfall in Israel, en route to their wintering grounds in Africa, is eagerly anticipated by the country’s wildlife enthusiasts; less so by its fish farmers, including those at Ma’ayan Zvi breeding ponds, 70km north of Tel-Aviv, who are instead bracing themselves for the annual ransacking of their prize stocks of carp, mullet and blue talapia. Migrating pelicans – flocks of which can number up to 8,000 individuals – usually check in to Ma’ayan Zvi for one or two nights, arriving in the afternoon and continuing south the next morning. From time to time, however, the visitors can…

BLUE PLANET LIVE BBC ONE, FOUR EPISODES, FROM 24 MARCH The BBC’s duo of Blue Planet series successfully captivated TV audiences by opening their eyes to wonders beneath the waves – the resourceful orange-dotted tuskfish and unearthly barreleye are just two species that spring to mind. Now, we’re invited to submerge ourselves into the world of aquatic wildlife once more, as Blue Planet Live is due to air this March. “With a live show, you never know entirely what you are going to get,” says series producer Vanessa Coates, “but our teams will be positioned in hotspots around the globe that we hope will offer some of the most exciting marine life.” The four episodes (24, 27, 28 and 31 March) will see Chris Packham at the world’s largest whale…

1 Peeking predator I captured this image of a saltwater crocodile during a recent trip to the Sundarbans. This ferocious hunter is the largest reptile in the world and has the most powerful animal bite ever measured. Soumadeep Das, Kolkata, India 2 Two-for-one dining My wife and I stayed at a lodge in Costa Rica, which covered its garden flowers with sugar solution to attract these Rivoli's hummingbirds. To freeze the movement, I used five flashguns on a low-power setting. Peter Clarke, Wiltshire, UK 3 Bombay bubbles I visited Amboli and spotted these endemic young Bombay bush frogs, a species that misses out the tadpole stage. I had to use a flash to capture the detail of the frogs. Prayuman Samant, Mumbai, India 4 Lazy evening On a visit to…

There are no better chaperones than bottlenose dolphins. Five flanked us on our boat trip out to the island of Lunga, the largest of the Treshnish Isles off the west coast of Scotland. Now that’s what I call arriving in style! “I spotted a small cave in the rock face and belly-crawled in to check it out.” I had come to survey Manx shearwaters for a week with the Treshnish Isles Auk Ringing Group, which has been visiting this Site of Special Scientific Interest and Special Protection Area since the 1970s. ‘Manxies’ are amazing low-gliding, stiff-winged seabirds that breed on a few UK offshore islands, and understanding how they’re doing is critical in order to conserve them. The migratory species is nocturnal and burrow-dwelling, making it hard to survey. The…

FROM INQUISITIVE BOTTLENOSE dolphins in Costa Rica to the loud but friendly howler monkeys in Panama, you’re in for a stunning array of wild experiences thanks to One Ocean Expeditions. Its newest vessel, RCGS Resolute, is perfect in every way for the ultimate small-ship expedition cruise to Central America. With exceptional outdoor panoramic viewing areas, ability to explore hidden inlets and bays unreachable by larger boats, and expert onboard guides and naturalists, it’s the ideal vessel for wildlife and exploration. From the lush rainforests of Costa Rica’s protected national parks to the white sand beaches and turquoise seas of its tropical islands, you’ll be able to spot swooping macaws and slow-moving sloths, and snorkel the colourful coral reefs of this spectacular destination. With opportunities to travel the Panama Canal, explore…

FOR TRULY UNCONSTRAINED exploration, especially in exotic conditions, you need clothing that is protective. Rohan’s brilliantly versatile range with hidden technology, will shield you from the sun and biting insects, and the secure pockets will keep all your possessions safe and sound. It offers pure function and reliability. Rohan’s Insect Shield® range prevents pesky bugs from ruining your adventures, whether near or far. Each Insect Shield garment is treated with permethrin – an invisible, odourless and durable ingredient that protects against insects that can carry dangerous diseases such as mosquitoes. A number of garments feature Dynamic Moisture Control™ which wicks sweat away keeping you cool, fresh and ready for anything. And, everything is engineered to be lightweight, packable and easy to care for. The Trailblazer Trousers, Trail Hooded Top, Expedition…

Jaguars Pantanal, Brazil The jaguar is notoriously elusive, but the tropical Pantanal is home to more of them than anywhere else on Earth, so it’s the place to go to see the biggest cat in the Americas. August to October are the driest months and therefore the best for wildlife sightings, as animals gather along the riverbanks to drink. Take a guided boat trip along a backwater in this wild and remote area of Brazil and there’s a chance you’ll encounter this crepuscular feline. The Pantanal is also home to caimans, giant river otters and green anacondas. See a clip from Jaguars: Brazil’s Super Cats bbc.in/2FuGngS Atlantic puffins Westman Islands, Iceland If you want to see puffins in great numbers, head for Iceland – the puffin-watching capital of the world.…

Turtles Heron Island, Australia For this wildlife spectacle, you’ll need to visit the beach at night, two hours either side of the high tide. Visitors must adhere to strict rules to minimise disturbance to nesting and hatching Endangered green and Vulnerable loggerhead sea turtles. From October to March each year, Australia’s Heron Island hosts large populations of these reptiles, which make their way to this national park in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Protected Area to lay their eggs. On a good night, visitors may see up to 150 turtles hauling themselves up the beach, digging holes with their flippers and burying around 115 eggs that will hatch approximately 60 days later. Heron Island is so tiny you can walk around it in 20 minutes and visitor numbers are limited…

Elephant seals and orcas Falkland Islands, South Atlantic Ocean The place to see southern elephant seals is Sea Lion Island, the main breeding colony in the Falklands. From September, females start rearing their young, and males fight to keep their harems. At the height of the breeding season, there are about 1,800 seals on the beach. Visit from mid-November to December to see hunting orcas, too, attracted by the weaned pups now practising their swimming close to the shore. Penguins provide another source of food for the whales, including resident gentoos. Snow geese Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge, Missouri In autumn, migrating snow geese – sometimes hundreds of thousands – flock to the refuge, turning the wetland white. They stop by at Loess Bluffs before heading south to overwintering sites…

Blue whales Galle, Sri Lanka If seeing the world’s biggest animal is on your ‘bucket list’ then no doubt Antarctica, the Azores or Monterey Bay are the locations that come to mind. But how about Sri Lanka? For a close encounter, there are a number of whale-watching companies in Galle and nearby Mirissa offering boat trips, usually departing in the early morning. Sightings here are very reliable. The continental shelf is narrow and quickly drops away to deep waters where blue whales arrive in the area from late November and spend the months of December, January, February and March feeding on krill – an adult can consume up to four tonnes per day at certain times of the year. On land, seek out Sri Lankan elephants, leopards, sloth bears and…

Sandwich tern With its shaggy black crest and yellow-tipped black bill, the Sandwich tern ( below ) is the earliest breeding tern to arrive back after spending winter in West Africa. Their noisy and grating ‘kerr-ick’ call is commonly heard along our shores from late March onwards in various breeding colonies around Britain’s coasts. Sand martin Smaller than a swallow, the brown upperparts and pale underparts with a brown chest-band should easily identify the earliest of our hirundines. Having overwintered in sub-Saharan Africa, any sand martins spotted near the coast will be in transit to sand banks and gravel quarries inland. Wheatear The male is distinctive with his blue-grey back, bandit’s mask and extensive white rump. Wheatears are common anywhere along the south coast in early spring, as they tend…

The Shetland name for the long-tailed duck, calloo, is onomatopoeic and its Latin name, Clangula hyemalis, means ‘resound’ and ‘wintry’. An estimated 11,000 long-tailed ducks overwinter in the UK. Most arrive in Shetland in October and leave in April for their summer breeding grounds in northern Scandinavia and Russia. They feed on aquatic invertebrates, mostly crustaceans and molluscs, and in Shetland can often be seen with great northern divers, feeding in sheltered bays with sandy beds. Dense winter congregations of these sea ducks can make them vulnerable to inshore oil spills, and many were killed in Shetland following the 1978 Esso Bernicia and 1993 Braer oil spills.…

While looking for a recording of the dawn chorus in the BBC Natural History Unit sound archives a few years ago, I found an entry from the 1960s, recorded in central England. As I grew up in Stokeon-Trent, I was curious. I clamped on the headphones and, immediately, I was back in my childhood garden with a surround-sound of birdsong. But something had changed. Unlike the chorus of today, this recording was dominated by the insistent, rhythmic purring of a turtle dove – it was a painful reminder of what was once so familiar. A flood of other memories came back – the bird table covered with starlings and my mother trying to shoo them off, “to let the little birds have a go”; a bush so vibrant with the…

Landing on Gough Island, the view resembled a scene from Jurassic Park – prehistoric cycad-like ferns scattered over the lowlands, and a pterodactyl-like cry from a southern giant petrel cemented our first impressions of this place. We had just arrived at what was going to be our home for the next year. Sitting in the bountiful waters of the South Atlantic Ocean subtropical front, this remote volcanic island, half way between Africa and South America, offers an important breeding ground for millions of seabirds, including albatrosses, penguins, petrels, prions and terns. Despite its natural beauty and World Heritage Site status, this wild island is not untouched. The footprint of human disturbance is evident in the presence of non-native house mice – unintentionally introduced by seal hunters in the 19th century…

There is a species of Asian jumping spider, Toxeus magnus, that mimics unpalatable ants to escape the attention of predators. But when Zhanqi Chen, a biologist at Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden in Yunnan, stumbled upon a silken T. magnus nest and peered inside, he realised there was something even stranger going on. “There were five very large individuals in there,” says Chen. “This is very unusual, because jumping spiders are not sociable, and the young leave their mother straight after hatching. This made me very curious.” Further investigation revealed that the spiderlings remain in the nest for 20 days, during which time the mother feeds them with a milk-like substance secreted from her abdomen. At first, she deposits droplets of the ‘milk’ around the nest, from which her young drink,…

Plans to develop the UK’s best and most important site for breeding nightingales have been significantly scaled back. The Government’s housing agency, Homes England, announced at the end of 2018 that it is now only seeking to build 500 houses – not the 5,000 originally proposed by the Ministry of Defence in 2011 – at Lodge Hill on the Hoo Peninsula in Kent. Lodge Hill provides habitat for an estimated 85 male nightingale territories, 1.5 per cent of the entire UK population, and it was designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in 2012. But Medway Council has long seen Lodge Hill as a location for some of the nearly 30,000 homes it must build over the next two decades, prompting an ongoing battle with conservationists. With Kent…

IF YOU WANT EVIDENCE for the importance of gardens for wildlife, just look at the Biodiversity in Urban Gardens in Sheffield (BUGS) project, run by researchers from the University of Sheffield in the early 2000s. “The other thing to think about is how gardens increase people’s positive engagement with wildlife.” What they found was ground-breaking – 33km2 of potential wildlife habitat covering 23 per cent of the city, with an estimated 360,000 trees more than 2m tall, 45,000 nestboxes, 25,000 ponds, and 50,000 compost heaps. In surveys in 61 of those gardens, the researchers identified 1,166 vascular plant species – the most biodiverse contained 248 alone. There was a rich profusion of invertebrates from a wide range of taxonomic groups, including bumblebees, hoverflies, beetles and spiders. But, says professor Kevin…

The Caribbean is under attack. Not from pirates or the dreaded zika virus, but from one of the most voracious predators known to man – the lionfish. According to US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the lionfish consumes more than 50 species of fish, plus invertebrates, including octopus, shrimp and juvenile lobster. This invasive species, having laid waste to reef ecology and marine life in the Caribbean for nigh on two decades, has convinced a number of biologists that, aside from onshore habitat destruction, it is one of the worst threats to biodiversity in the region. Red lionfish ( Pterois volitans ) and common lionfish ( P. miles ) are complex fish species native to the waters of the Philippines. Related to…

The Grant Arms Wildlife Book Festival is a gathering in the Scottish Highlands of some of the most prominent authors in the field of natural history. The festival, hosted by the Grant Arms Hotel in Grantownon Spey, runs from 15–19 April 2019. There will be daily talks given by the participating authors – including Miranda Krestovnikoff (turn to page 106 to read about her love of grey seals) – who will be mingling with the guests and signing books. The discussion following each talk will be led by naturalist and author Stephen Moss. The four-star Grant Arms is a specialist wildlife hotel. It’s a traditional Scottish building refurbished to modern standards of comfort, with en-suite bedrooms, a cosy bar and a one-rosette restaurant. Don’t miss the chance to enjoy the…

BY CHARLOTTE MILNER, DK, £12.99 I suspect Charlotte Milner is a fan of Octonauts. The BBC animated TV series, which has ‘edutained’ a generation of youngsters on the subject of marine biology, is echoed in both the artwork and text of The Sea Book. I couldn’t help hearing the voice of Shellington, the Octonaut’s scientific sea otter, when I read this book. That’s not a criticism. Like Octonauts, The Sea Book places the planet’s oceanic zoological wonders in a wider ecology of food webs, ecosystems and planetary processes. Environmental concerns are raised, but without scaring the living daylights out of any children, or their parents. It is a masterful execution of Albert Einstein’s dictum that everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler. But who cares what…

Area: 3,207km2 Average monthly rainfall: 10.6mm Plant species: 750 Spread across two contrasting desert ecosystems – the high Mojave desert to the east and the low Colorado desert to the west – this National Park is home to a rich assortment of flora, including the other-worldly Joshua tree. The rugged landscape is studded with dramatic rock formations, scattered boulders and sun-baked scrub.…

Conservation killings Oh, how I agree with Mark Carwardine (My way of thinking, January 2019). I cannot countenance the killing of any animal for ‘sport’, and I find the breeding and killing of game birds in our own country particularly obnoxious. I agree that it is a difficult distinction to make when considering the killing of introduced species, such as rats, to enable the native species to repopulate an area. However, it was humans, after all, who introduced the rats in the first place, so is it not also our duty to remove them? Victoria Nicholls, Deal Living with wolves A recent article covered the killing of wolves in Norway (Wild news, January 2019). Considering that a far larger population of wolves live in the adjacent area in Sweden, why…

Why are you championing the grey seal? Some of my very best animal encounters have been with inquisitive grey seals here in UK waters. I find them completely mesmerising and so playful. Every time I have an interaction with them while scuba diving, I feel so lucky that they want to approach and spend time with me in the water, and I never want those dives to end. Unlike us, they are well adapted for life in the sea, with torpedo-shaped bodies, large eyes and highly sensitive whiskers, which all enable them to hunt efficiently in the murky depths. Can you tell us about your first dive with grey seals? I was filming in the Farne Islands for the very first series of BBC Two’s Coast , and I had…

Cherry blossom Throughout Japan Admire its ephemeral beauty: Japan’s pink cherry blossom, sakura , lasts just a few days on each tree before the petals float down gently. Since the eighth century, when imperial courtiers gathered beneath the cherry trees to picnic and write poetry, the sublime phenomenon has held a deep place in Japanese culture, representing the fleeting nature of life. There are thousands of cherry trees across the country, and the blossom front or sakura zensen forecast on television means you will always be able to find the perfect location for a hanami , or blossom appreciation party. Late March to early April is a good time to go, as that’s when the trees blossom on Japan’s central islands, including Kyoto and Tokyo, where public spaces and beauty…

Sardine run KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa Each year, a food fight on an epic scale presents a superb opportunity to enjoy massed ranks of sharks, dolphins, fur seals and Bryde’s whales – plus tens of thousands of gannets – all in one place. Billions of sardines, also known as pilchards, follow a seasonal glut of food northwards along South Africa’s eastern coast, forming shoals several kilometres long. These attract marine predators in their thousands, and the result is a dramatic feeding frenzy. Best viewed on a boat-based tour or scuba-dive charter, the action moves along the KwaZulu-Natal coast. By May, things are in full swing around the Port Elizabeth area, moving northwards towards Port St Johns from June to July. There’s no better opportunity to see the hunting strategies of large…

Wildebeest migration Kenya and Tanzania Tightly packed antelope stretching as far as the eye can see, galloping in a cloud of dust – it’s the epic journey of more than 1.5 million wildebeest on their quest for fresh pastures in the Serengeti (Tanzania) and Maasai Mara (Kenya) national parks. As they follow the rains on their epic migration, the animals attract countless predators, such as hyenas, jackals, lions, leopards, cheetahs and crocodiles. This ‘wonder of the natural world’ is a dramatic and large-scale wildlife spectacle that sees the wildebeest travel nearly 3,000km. The wildebeests’ perilous Grumeti River crossing usually occurs in July (the timing depends on the rains), when they must avoid awaiting attackers before continuing north. Don’t miss BBC One’s six-part series Serengeti, coming soon (see Radio Times for…

Caribou Hudson Bay, Canada In autumn, the tundra around Hudson Bay is home to hundreds of thousands of migrating reindeer (called caribou in North America) heading slowly southwards – even swimming across lakes and rivers – to feed and build up fat in preparation for winter. These are probably the most wide-ranging land mammals in North America, travelling as much as 2,575km per year. Their autumn trek begins in late August and lasts until October. They also migrate in spring, from March until May, when their calves are born. Visitors to the Canadian tundra in early fall can see bulls shedding their velvet before rutting season. Other Arctic species to look out for include wolves, bears and golden eagles. Pumas Torres del Paine National Park, Chile The powerful and predatory…

1 | COMMON TOAD Marching orders Countless warty bodies will soon be stirring. Unlike frogs, toads only visit water to breed, and the timing of their annual migration varies enormously from year to year, according to the weather in early spring. The ‘big push’ – when toads move en masse to ancestral breeding ponds and lakes – occurs on damp, drizzly evenings when the temperature at sunset hovers at or above 7–8°C. The event usually occurs in March or April in northern England and Scotland. All too often, the peak movement clashes with rush-hour traffic, leading to amphibian carnage. John Lewis-Stempel, in his new book about ponds, Still Water (published by Doubleday this March), describes the sickening moment when toads and drivers meet: ‘Stationary, they are white lumps, almost leaves;…

Shetland out of season is something of a well-kept secret. It’s true that the weather at this time of year can be wild, but there are also days of intense calm, when the surface of the sea is so still that it’s easy to locate the pod of ‘neesicks’ (harbour porpoises) that visit the sheltered voe below my house in the west of Shetland’s Mainland. I see adult ‘draatsi’ (otters) in the same voe all year-round, but on calm winter days I’m on the lookout for young cubs venturing into the sea. Shetland has one of the densest populations of otters in Europe. In these islands, otter cubs are usually born in late summer and emerge from the natal holt in autumn. By winter, it’s common to see a mother…

The tarpan ( above ), also known as the Eurasian wild horse, is considered to have been a subspecies of wild horse related to the domesticated horse. It shared the dorsal stripe and leg markings of its truly wild cousin and was first identified in 1774 in the Russian province of Bobrov. Mouse-grey, turning almost white in winter, it was used as a source of meat, and persecuted because it ate stored hay and stallions sometimes took domestic mares from farms. In 1879, the last scientifically confirmed individual was killed. By 1880, most tarpans had probably become hybrids. The last captive tarpan died in 1909.…

Where does it live? In the Annamite mountains on the border of Vietnam and Laos. It’s a very small mountain range, but it’s home to an incredible number of range-restricted endemic species that very little is known about and that are highly threatened. Put those three things together and there’s really no other area on the planet like it, at least for mammals. And this is no ordinary rabbit? It’s really fantastic – short ears, short legs, tiger stripes and a reddish rump. It was only discovered in the 1990s when a colleague found one being sold in a market in Laos. There’s another striped rabbit in Sumatra, which is also secretive, mysterious and threatened. There’s nothing else like them. What else lives in the region? There’s the saola, a…

WHAT IS IT? Don’t be fooled by it looking dark; this is a white butterfly – a member of the family that includes more familiar, cabbage-munching species. It has been named in honour of the 17th-century German entomologist and artist Maria Sibylla Merian, who pioneered the study of insect life-cycles and metamorphosis by raising caterpillars to see what they turned into. WHERE IS IT? Merian’s skills would be useful today. The only stage in the life-cycle known to date is the adult male, of which two have been found, both in Panama. Merian herself sailed to South America to study the insect life, funding the trip with her paintings. SOURCE ZooTaxa: bit.ly/2HdiCvm…

One innovative project has used dog collars to help change the minds of locals when it comes to protecting Barbary macaques. Found in North Africa, Barbary macaques are threatened by habitat loss and the illegal pet trade. But they are also killed by villagers’ dogs around Bouhachem forest in north Morocco. Local shepherds believed it was feral dogs causing the problem. “We had to find a non-confrontational way to communicate the right information,” says conservationist Siân Waters, who works for the NGO Barbary Macaque Awareness and Conservation (BMAC). To address the issue, BMAC started offering free rabies vaccinations to the dogs of local people. The canines that attended veterinary health events received colourful collars once they had been given treatment. Afterwards, shepherds began to notice dogs with the same vibrant…

Our exclusive reader holiday covers what is known as The Route of 100 Birds, travelling around the triangle formed by the city of Málaga and the inland towns of Archidona and Ardales. Within that is included the Montes de Málaga, El Torcal and Desfiladero de Los Gaitanes (El Chorro) nature reserves, and the mouth and valley of the Guadalhorce River, possibly the most biodiverse region in Southern Europe, but one that is relatively unknown to tourists visiting the usual haunts of the Costa del Sol. This seven-day, six-night trip will be led by Luis Alberto Rodríquez, a wildlife guide situated in Málaga. Some of the highlights to watch out for during the trip will include griffon vultures, Bonelli’s eagle, greater flamingos, Spanish ibex, blue rock thrush, black-winged stilt, Mediterranean chameleon,…

11,700 WILDLIFE SPECIMENS (dead or alive) 75% proportion of live turtle and tortoise advertisements with some claim to legality. Up for sale Key findings of 2018 IFAW report Disrupt: Wildlife Cybercrime, based on a six-week survey in 2017 in UK, France, Germany and Russia. 55% of posts... ...offering live reptiles for sale 13% Proportion of live turtle and tortoise advertisements offering Article 10 certificate number as proof. 5,300 online advertisements found selling wildlife or wildlife products.…

What’s included Five nights’ dinner, bed and breakfast in a superior room, 15–20 April (superior room subject to availability. No single supplement) 13 one-hour talks from guest speakers in the afternoons and evenings Exclusive BBC Wildlife guided walk at 2.00pm on Monday 15 April Wildlife films in the library Free-to-all guided walks and/or field trips every morning Book signing opportunities PLEASE NOTE: own car will be necessary to participate in field trips Not included: travel to Grantown-on-Spey; drinks; travel insurance; other incidental expenses; gratuities Only £495 per person for five nights!…

GAL OYA LODGE A unique safari lodge positioned on the edge of the relatively untouched and least explored national park in the heart of Sri Lanka, Gal Oya Lodge specialises in high-end, environmentally responsible tourism. Come and visit us for a chance to witness the swimming elephants of Gal Oya. galoyalodge.com LUNDY ISLAND EXPERIENCE Swim or dive with the very friendly seals on Lundy Island, take a walk ashore to see the wonderful bird life on the island especially all the Puffins, and have lunch in the Marisco Tavern. Travel along the beautiful Exmoor coast under the tallest sea cliffs in England while watching out for dolphins. lundydiving.co.uk MWAMBA BUSH CAMP Mwamba, Shenton Safaris’ exclusive bush camp, was founded in 1995 through Derek Shenton’s strong roots of conservation through tourism,…

Some years ago, the three villages of Allexton, Belton-in-Rutland and Wardley, in the East Midlands, bought a parcel of land and formed the Three Villages Conservation Trust. The area contains a stretch of the Eye Brook (a tributary of the Welland River) and trees were planted to convert the site from unused farmland to a wildlife haven. But it has since become unruly, needing attention, and the local community were invited to help. The Fitchett family – James and Andrea, with their children Harry, Arthur and Florence – were keen to be involved, and James describes the first steps: “There were about 1,500 trees. They had damaged plastic guards and it was decided to clear the site of these.” A Focus on Nature (AFON), which works with young conservation-minded people,…

I just wanted to say thank you to BBC Wildlife Magazine for giving me the next best thing to true freedom. As someone, only 35, who is disabled and suffers great physical pain, your magazine helps me to feel more independent. My dreams – lofty ambitions – were to work in far-flung countries abroad, but my disability means these are ambitions that will never come true. I will never work with bonobos or trek the jungles of Bangladesh searching out tigers. I will never be an authority on invertebrates (except those in my garden.) I will never live these dreams, only read about other people fulfilling theirs, and therefore mine vicariously. I’m so grateful for your magazine and every writer that contributes to its superlative knowledge. From my home you…

FEW THINGS COMPARE to witnessing whales in the wild. These majestic creatures embark on astonishing migrations, have complex social structures and are a joy to observe in their natural habitat. Throw California’s balmy weather and a seasoned marine biologist into the mix, and you’re guaranteed an unforgettable experience. Monterey Bay Whale Watch tours are run by Nancy Black, a marine biologist specialising in killer whales. Black has studied orcas for the past 30 years, working with leading British and American broadcasters on award-winning documentaries, so you know you’re in good hands. April and May are the perfect months to go whale watching in California, as killer whales are out on the hunt for migrating grey whales. However, Monterey Bay Whale Watch runs tours throughout the year – the area is…