Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2021 i BBC Wildlife Magazine

1 | WHITE STORK Wings of hope Swallows and cuckoos have long been heralds of spring, but now we can cross our fingers for an eyeful of something larger: white storks cruising north over the English Channel on 2m-wide wings. The birds were reintroduced to Sussex in 2019–2020, and in September some migrated south to Spain and Africa for the winter. They have been tracked mingling with flocks of wild storks from other parts of Europe – good news for the project’s long-term success. It is not clear when white storks died out in Britain, though Benedict Macdonald points out in Rebirding that they fetched big money in London’s game markets as late as the 16th century. After the first successful nesting of reintroduced birds at the Knepp estate in…

We call them lakes in England, lochs in Scotland, llyns in Wales and loughs in Ireland, but a feature all these waterbodies share is their natural origin. This puts clear water, as it were, between them and those waterbodies with decidedly anthropogenic beginnings, such as reservoirs. But when does a lake, llyn, loch or lough become a pond, and vice versa? Well, according to limnologists, who study freshwater habitats for a living, the strict definition should not be based on the size of the waterbody, but on its depth. Ponds, for example, are shallow enough to allow rooted plants to conceivably grow right across their surface. This ‘photic zone’ is where the sun’s rays are able to penetrate right to the bottom. By contrast, their deeper cousins will also incorporate…

The Government’s decision to permit the use of a banned insecticide on sugar beet crops this year has alarmed many conservationists. Defra announced in early January that the emergency use of the neonicotinoid thiamethoxam would be allowed because this year’s beet harvest has been badly affected by a virus spread by aphids. Highly lethal neurotoxins, neonicotinoids are so powerful that one teaspoon is enough to kill 1.25 billion bees. These insecticides have been in use since 1994, and after the evidence for their environmental impact became overwhelming, the EU banned their use on flowering plants in 2013 and then on all outdoor crops in 2018. At time of print, The Wildlife Trusts intends to challenge the Government’s decision, arguing that environment secretary George Eustice had not demonstrated that there were…

WHAT IS IT? A tiny chameleon the size of a seed could be a contender for the title of the smallest reptile on Earth. The male nano-chameleon has a body just 13.5mm long, yet its genitals are one-fifth of its body size, possibly allowing it to mate with the larger female. WHERE IS IT? An international team of eagle-eyed scientists spied the reptile within degraded montane rainforests in northern Madagascar. Fortunately, its habitat has been placed under protection, but the researchers have recommended that the bijou chameleon is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. FIND OUT MORE Nature: nature.com/articles/ s41598-020-80955-1…

PAUL HOBSON is a wildlife photographer who has lived in Sheffield most of his life. He has won a number of prestigious international awards, and his work has been highly commended in Wildlife Photographer of the Year. He also writes books on nature and photography. paulhobson.co.uk…

TV choice Discover the secrets of colour among the animal kingdom Join David Attenborough as he marvels at the kaleidoscopic nature around us. LIFE IN COLOUR CATCH UP ON IPLAYER After a sombre winter, this two-party documentary series is a welcome carnival of colour. Sir David Attenborough started his career describing the appearance of animals to audiences viewing black-and-white footage. Now, with decades of experience, alongside the cutting edge of camera technology, he’s the perfect guide to show us some of the world’s most spectacular creatures. There’s something uplifting about watching him feeding toucans and strolling in a perfect pastel meadow at a time when such locations are dreamscapes to most of us. Alongside hints of jazz in the soundtrack, the visuals have a dreamy, borderline-trippy quality – don’t mix…

Living in the era of COVID-19 has meant, for the vast majority of us, not only a life at a distance from our fellow beings but self-isolation in order to be safe. Travel to see wildlife has been put on hold. For me, I have had to look at wildlife on a restricted scale, namely in my back garden – it is a small one with a lawn, rockery, flowerbed and two trees. However, it is the small variety of bird species that has occupied my time and enthralled me as well, saving me from absolute boredom. It is their comings and goings, behaviour and habits that are so fascinating. First to arrive in the early morning is the dunnock, weaving in and out of the vegetation looking for a…

The primrose is famously one of the earliest hedgebank and wayside wildflowers. It is the ‘prime rose’, the first flower, and so is much loved. In Britain, there is even a day dedicated to it: 19 April. This is such a simple and widespread flower, as befits the second part of its scientific name, Primula vulgaris. But don’t take it for granted. Between its five xanthous (or yellowish) petals, it has some fascinating adaptations. One of the disadvantages of flowering early in the year is that there are fewer pollinating insects around. On the upside, however, you are also guaranteed to have few competitors, so get the undivided attention of any insect on the wing. The primrose is genius in this respect, and has a neat mechanism for making sure…

You may be familiar with the benefits of moorland restoration, such as carbon sequestration and rewetting the moors to help prevent flooding, but conservationists in the Peak District have discovered a less obvious beneficiary of revegetating the peat on Kinder Scout plateau: bats. Moors for the Future Partnership has been working with Derbyshire Bat Group, and a bat detector placed on the plateau has revealed that out of 17 species of bat in the UK, five are present on the plateau and foraging there, suggesting they are living in the area, not just passing through. “We didn’t really know whether bats were there or not, but we had a sneaking suspicion that, after all the restoration work, they might be,” says Alan Roe, a recorder at Derbyshire Bat Group. The…

The government of Australia’s state of Victoria has added to its list of threatened species the platypus – following its nomination by wildlife photographer and BBC Wildlife contributor Doug Gimesy. Victoria’s Scientific Advisory Committee, which assessed the evidence, concluded that Australia’s iconic egg-laying mammal is “facing a high risk of extinction in the wild in the medium-term future”. It found “mounting evidence that platypus populations have reduced considerably in terms of abundance and distribution in the past 30 years, due to multiple stressors that directly impact the species or degrade aquatic ecosystems”. Stressors include land clearance, bank erosion, sedimentation, urbanisation, river fragmentation, fishing by-catch, pollution and climate change. The listing grants extra protection for Victoria’s platypus habitat “To be honest, I really wish I was wrong and that my nomination…

PATAGONIA NATIONAL PARK, CHILE Pumas stalk guanacos across the Patagonian steppe in this tranche of southern Chile. Yet just two decades ago, much of its habitat was blighted by a century of overgrazing on vast cattle ranches. Purchased with the backing of conservationists Kris and Doug Tompkins, the ecosystem has been restored and recently handed over to the Chilean government to function as a 300,000ha national park, along with other lands donated by the Tompkins. These now form part of the Ruta de los Parques, a 2,800km route linking 17 national parks. GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK, US By far the most-frequented national park in North America, this rugged, humid, forested range spanning over 200,000ha recorded 12.5 million visits in 2019 – more than twice as many as the Grand…

According to Erik Meijaard, a conservation scientist who has been working for almost 30 years in South-East Asia, the world spends $80 million (about £60 million) a year on orangutan conservation. Erik and a number of colleagues are currently trying to determine exactly where this money goes. “We are looking at who is spending it – governments, NGOs, research organisations, sanctuaries, oil and timber companies, where the money comes from and what it is being invested in, and whether we can link that spending to local orangutan population trends,” he tells me during a video call from Brunei, where he lives for much of the year. Though Erik’s research is unfinished, there’s one thing he can say with certainty. “What is clear is that we are spending all that money…

Cowies Hill nestles in the suburbs of Durban, South Africa. Alongside spacious family homes are supermarkets, shops and schools, all bisected by busy roads. If Shane McPherson, a scientist from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, wants to check on his charges, this is the unlikely but perfect place. Shane parks outside a house and walks down the garden path to a sturdy eucalyptus tree. This is an ideal nest-site, not for a ‘birdie’ but for a fully-grown raptor perfectly at ease in the vicinity of people’s homes: the crowned eagle. Named for the distinct plumage adorning its head, the crowned eagle inhabits the tropical forests of sub-Saharan Africa, and is also found along the east coast from Tanzania to South Africa. It’s a large but shrinking kingdom, where once-pristine forests of…

We solve your wildlife mysteries. Email your questions to wildquestions@immediate.co.uk More amazing facts at discoverwildlife.com DIET Why do monkeys seek out wasps? Wasps are something humans and many other primates generally leave alone, yet in South America, capuchin monkeys actively seek out wasp nests. They’re after the larvae, which are packed full of protein, fat, vitamins and minerals, and easily digested, too. As the grubs are clustered together, a monkey raider can extract a lot of food in no time. How the monkey gets around the angry adults depends on the wasp species. With Polistes wasps, tapping the nest repeatedly makes the colony leave. But with the extremely bellicose Chartergus, the only way is smash-and-grab: a monkey runs past, grabs a handful of nest and just keeps going, often trailing…

Green haven The waters surrounding the islands of Belize contain an incredible array of marine life, not to mention the second-largest reef system in the world (designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996). Popular with snorkelers, the Hol Chan Marine Reserve is home to three species of sea turtle – green (pictured), loggerhead and hawksbill – among myriad other creatures. Named for the colour of the fat found under its shell, the green turtle mostly eats sea grasses and algae and is the only sea turtle species to have a strictly herbivourous diet as an adult. This reptile is an Endangered species, and steps have been taken over the past few years to protect and improve its habitat off Belize’s shores. Night vision With a wingspan of up to…

On his very first day in office, US President Joe Biden put a temporary halt to oil and gas drilling in the roadless expanse of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska. For more than 40 years, the 19.3 million-acre ANWR has been the subject of a political rollercoaster when it comes to whether to drill or not to drill. The main region of contention is the vast coastal plain, also known as the ‘1002 Area’, which teems with braided rivers, lush wetlands, ponds and boreal forests – but also potentially holds up to 11.8 billion barrels of oil reserves. “This is America’s last, best place,” says Garrett Rose, staff attorney at Natural Resources Defense Council’s Alaska Project. “If we can’t safeguard the refuge from extractive industry, then no…

IN MAY, ONE OF THE world’s great wildlife spectacles returns to the eastern USA, as a massive brood of periodical cicadas hatches for the first time since 2004. Having spent all that time in the soil as wingless nymphs, billions of red-eyed, black-bodied, winged adults will emerge together. Of the seven periodical cicada species in North America, three follow a 17-year cycle, and the rest a 13-year cycle. To complicate things, their multiple broods are out of step. These intensively studied cicadas were always thought to be unique. Now a new study by Japanese scientists of the country’s famous train millipede, Parafontaria laminata, published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, has confirmed that it too hatches en masse in a predictable fashion, after a long time underground. The train…

Seedheads nod in waves washing across a green ocean. Grazing those undulating expanses are herbivores in their dozens, even hundreds, glancing up periodically to scan the horizon. A well-camouflaged predator peers hungrily from the shade of a lonely tree. It’s a seemingly timeless scene echoed in national parks the world over – until you examine the fine detail. Yellowstone’s bison and deer range over nearly 900,000ha, hunted by wolf, coyote and grizzly bear; the Serengeti’s vast grasslands are mown by a multitude of wildebeest and impala on their epic annual migration through some three million hectares of rolling savannah, stalked by lion, cheetah and leopard. The sheep and cows of the Peak District – the UK’s first national park, established 70 years ago, on 17 April 1951 – graze discrete…

Until 2017, the Tapanuli orangutan Pongo tapanuliensis was considered to be the same species as the Sumatran, but studies have shown both morphological and genomic difference, and that the two have been separated from each other for between 10,000 and 20,000 years. It is entirely confined to about 1,230km² of forest in the Batang Toru Ecosystem, still in north Sumatra, but south of the Leuser Ecosystem, where its close relative is mainly found. There are fewer than 800 Tapanuli orangutans split into three separate populations, and conservationists say they are threatened by plans to build a hydro-electric dam that would further fragment their remaining habitat.…

1 HOW MANY TOES DID THEY HAVE TO START WITH? Skinks are a large family of lizards in which there are five-, four-, three-, two- and one-toed species, as well as some with no legs at all. Most have spindly toes and, over millions of years, these seem to have been shrinking and reducing in number with evolution. Some Australian skinks in the genus Lerista went from five limbs to none in the last 3.6 million years, according to scientists at The University of Adelaide. But skinks can also re-evolve lost limbs. 2 WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO THE SKINKS? Evolutionary ecologists think limb number might be linked to climate. Millions of years ago, when it was cooler and wetter, many skink species got about on bigger feet,…