Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2023 i BBC Wildlife Magazine

Strictly Birds of Prey Wildlife cameraman Hamza Yassin goes in search of his favourite birds of prey around the UK, meeting the people who are fighting to protect them. The journey takes him from white-tailed eagles in Scotland to London’s peregrine falcons.  Catch up on the episode on iPlayer Big Little Journeys Dive into the extraordinary worlds of six tiny animals as they embark on the biggest journeys of their lives. The first of three episodes features a turtle hatchling in search of a wetland pond and a young bushbaby leaving his family. Catch up with all episodes on iPlayer Metamorphosis Entomologist Erica McAlister on the soldier fly that’s part of a fast-growing insect farming industry addressing the urgent need to find cheap protein. And how Namib desert beetles survive…

BBC SOUNDS Tweet of the Day: Brett Westwood presents the story and sound of the robin IN AUTUMN AND WINTER, YOU MAY HEAR beautifully mellow birdsong coming from somewhere out of sight in bushes or the undergrowth. It will be strangely familiar and yet much softer than the louder, brighter song you’re used to, with a whispered quality. The species you’re most likely to hear singing in this way are robins and blackbirds, probably first-winter individuals that hatched earlier in the year. The theory goes that their subdued rendition, known as subsong, is them quietly practising ready for next spring, when the stakes are far higher and they will need to sing in earnest to defend territories and attract mates. As most birdsong is not instinctive, young robins and blackbirds…

ANIMAL CONSERVATION GROUPS HAVE reacted angrily to the Icelandic government’s move to lift the temporary suspension of commercial whaling, which was introduced this summer following a ruling that the practice broke animal welfare laws. “This decision is hugely disappointing and a massive step backwards,” says Luke McMillan, campaigner at Whale and Dolphin Conservation. “We will keep fighting until this barbaric killing comes to an end.” In a statement, the Icelandic government says it is introducing new procedures for whaling aimed at killing the whales as quickly as possible to reduce suffering: “With the expiry of the ban, the Ministry is now implementing strict and detailed new requirements for hunting, including equipment, methods, and increased supervision. This follows a decision made by a working group, established in July 2023, to evaluate…

BBC SOUNDS Tweet of the Day: Doug Allan on the emperor penguin UP TO 10,000 EMPEROR PENGUIN CHICKS are believed to have perished in Antarctica as a result of record low levels of sea-ice leading to an “unprecedented breeding failure” in late 2022, according to new research. Scientists examined satellite images, which revealed that the sea-ice underneath the chicks melted and broke apart well before they would have developed waterproof feathers. The grim consequence is that the chicks would have either drowned or frozen to death. “We have never seen emperor penguins fail to breed, at this scale, in a single season,” says Peter Fretwell from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), lead author of the research. “The loss of sea-ice during the Antarctic summer made it unlikely that displaced chicks…

Drive through the leafy countryside in November or December and you’re likely to see pale grey moths fluttering weakly in your headlights. These are male winter moths – the curious flightless females are confined to trees, where they release pheromones to entice their winged suitors. The caterpillars that hatch en masse in spring are vital for tits and other birds feeding young. FACT. Some species of flea can jump up to 200 times their own body length, the equivalent of a human jumping as high as the Empire State Building. They don’t rely on muscle to make this mighty leap, but harness energy stored in resilin – a spring-like protein contained in the thorax.…

NON-NATIVE FLORA AND FAUNA ARE ALL too often a nuisance, disrupting ecosystems and causing economic harm, yet in certain cases there may be an upside. Britain is home to several introduced species whose populations here are faring better than in their native range and thus unexpectedly have acquired conservation significance. The Chinese water deer is a case in point. Around 10 per cent of its wild population is now found in England, concentrated in the reedbeds and peaty farmlands of the Norfolk Broads, Cambridgeshire Fens and nearby Bedfordshire. This is a diminutive deer, between muntjac and roe in size, lacking antlers but with vampiric tusks (modified upper canine teeth) in both sexes. By November, the species’ warm brown coat is fast fading to grey, and it’s also when the annual…

Despite its name, the Canada goose – introduced to the UK in the 17th century – is common across the country and particularly widespread in England and Wales. This means that its poo is in abundance, too. Unsurprisingly, it is mostly found on grass and paths near ponds, lakes and rivers. Usually earthy green in colour, its hue reflects the goose’s largely grass-based diet. Often, though, it can be found with a white coating, which is uric acid. Typically around 8cm long, the poo is thick and cylindrical, and is usually found coiled.…

The golden horseshoe Grand Title Winner: Laurent Ballesta, France A tri-spine horseshoe crab moves slowly over the mud off Pangatalan Island in the Philippines, accompanied by a trio of juvenile golden trevallies poised to snatch edible morsels ploughed up by its passage. This image is part of a collection called The Ancient Mariner, which also won Laurent the 2023 Portfolio Award. The tri-spine horseshoe crab has survived for more than 300 million years, and now faces habitat destruction and overfishing for food and for its blood, used in the development of vaccines. But here, in the protected waters off Pangatalan, there is hope for its survival. Birds of the midnight sun Winner, Urban Wildlife: Knut-Sverre Horn, Norway From his vantage point inside an abandoned fish-processing factory in Vardø, Troms og…

WILDLIFE ARTIST OF THE Year is more than just an art competition. It is a platform for artists from around the world to highlight the issues affecting wildlife. The artworks challenge the viewer via a variety of thought-provoking media and prompt discussion about conserving iconic species. This year, the competition received 1,419 entries and 157 finalists were selected. An impressive £32,000 was raised for the work of David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation from entry income alone, with more funds for conservation projects across Asia and Africa set to be raised from exhibition sales. Ugandan conservation artist Karen Laurence Rowe was announced as the Overall Winner at the Mall Galleries in London with her stunning, abstract landscape painting The Journey, which explores drought. The Overall Runner-Up award was scooped by Camila Echavarria,…

What animal is a black panther? At least 11 of the world’s 40 or so species of cat have black forms – individuals whose fur contains high levels of the pigment melanin. Black panthers are not a distinct species, but ‘melanistic’ members of the genus Panthera (lions, tigers, leopards, jaguars and snow leopards). In practice, the term only really applies to leopards and jaguars, as fully black individuals don’t occur in the others. Melanistic leopards and jaguars are rare, perhaps because melanism offers better camouflage only in the densest, darkest forests. Why do owls hoot? Not all owls hoot. Some screech, bark or hiss. Of the five species that breed in the UK, only the tawny, short-eared and long-eared produce calls that could be described as a hoot. And only…

ACROSS 8 Extinct bird, once native to Mauritius (4) 9 Widespread waterbird, sometimes called black-necked (5,5) 10 Marten-like mammal of North America (6) 11 Australian shrub in the family Lamiaceae (8) 12 Hawaiian goose (4) 13 South American large-billed forest bird (4,6) 17 Martin ___, Lancashire wetland (4) 18 Term for a female kangaroo (5) 19 Chrysalis (4) 20 Emergent leaves of a horse chestnut, perhaps (6,4) 22 Wading bird that might be invisible (4) 23 Gregarious South Asian songbird – may be Forbes’s or Hunstein’s (8) 27 Plant genus that includes wood sorrels (6) 28 Large marine cetacean (5,5) 29 Large sea-fish in the mackerel family (4) DOWN 1 Arid region of Asia, home to black-tailed gazelle and marbled polecat (4,6) 2 ‘Little bit of bread and ___’, Yellowhammer…

European Wildlife Photographer of the Year Check out highlights from this year’s competition, organised by the German Society for Nature Photography (GDT), at discoverwildlife.com/photo-galleries/gdt. Inspired? Why not enter next year? • WHO CAN ENTER Amateur and professional photographers residing within Europe, and GDT members • PRIZES The cash prizes are as follows: €3,000 for the overall winner, €800 for category winners and €500 for runners-up • SUBMISSIONS The 2024 contest opens 15th January and the deadline is 1st March. There are eight categories, a youth category and two special prizes. Find out everything you need to know at gdtfoto.de…

Welcome to the BBC Wildlife Travel Guide, bursting with tips for your next big wildlife adventure. For the classic Big Five safari experience we’ve got high-action suggestions from Kenya to South Africa; we highlight some excellent diving and snorkelling options worldwide; and surveying whales and measuring shark pups are just two of our options for volunteering. The budget-conscious will appreciate 10 destinations that won’t break the bank, while those happy to pack an extra layer will lap up our winter adventure options. And who among your brood won’t be excited by our family-friendly highlights, which include brown bear encounters in northern Spain? Your next wildlife adventure starts here. Bon voyage! FIND OUT MORE For more wildlife travel inspiration, visit discoverwildlife.com/holidays-days-out A BBC Wildlife special CONTRIBUTORS Jo Caird, Richard Eccleston, Tom…

IFELT LIKE I WAS IN MY ELEMENT when my son first became fascinated by dinosaurs. Here was a subject I knew well from my own childhood. But, as I soon discovered, there were a lot more dinosaurs now than there had been when I was my son’s age! Of course, new ones hadn’t been invented; it was our understanding of them that had changed, and I loved learning about these ‘new’ dinosaurs. The same logic applies to life on Earth today. The planet has changed at an astonishing rate since I discovered my big brother’s Ladybird dinosaurs book, but so has our understanding of the world we share with the animals and plants that star in Planet Earth III (not to mention the improvements in TV tech). It’s 17 years…

MANY MALE MOTHS CAN DETECT airborne chemicals – pheromones – released by females ready to mate. Having homed-in on a partner, often from great distances, some also produce their own pheromones to boost their close-range attractiveness. That’s the case for the tobacco budworm, a widespread North American moth. Research from a team at North Carolina State University shows that the source of the male’s turn-on odour is a chemical used by foodplants in their own defence and healing. Methyl salicylate (MeSA) is secreted by plants that have been damaged by grazing to help leaf wounds heal and to communicate danger to other plants. The presence and amount of the chemical in a male budworm’s pheromones seem to have a big influence on whether a female reckons he’s hot or not.…

SO FAR THIS YEAR, 39 ASIAN HORNETS have been seen in England. These sightings mark a huge increase on previous years, with only two in 2021, and just one in 2022. The highest number of sightings since the species was first spotted in the UK, in 2016, occurred in 2018, when a total of nine were recorded. The cause for this sudden escalation, according to experts, is most likely the species’ increased range and frequency in Europe. “The Asian hornet has continued to spread in a number of countries neighbouring the UK,” explains professor Helen Roy, an invasive-species ecologist at the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology. “It’s likely that this has resulted in an increase in the number of Asian hornets reaching the UK through the summer. They could…

AUTHOR JOHN FAIRFAX-BLAKEBOROUGH summed up the pine marten beautifully in 1921, declaring that “he is the wildest of the wild things left to us, and all his habits and instincts make for secrecy and isolation”. Considered Britain’s second commonest carnivore (behind the weasel) in its Mesolithic heyday 6,000 years ago, the pine marten then began a long and tragic downhill slide. Initially it struggled with the clearance of Britain’s woodlands, then trapping for its fur morphed into a ruthless eradication of the species, regarded as ‘vermin’ by the game shooting fraternity. Faced with such an onslaught, the pine marten was reduced to near-mythical levels of rarity across England and Wales, with the Scottish Highlands remaining its sole refuge. However, since the 1950s, a slow, partial recovery has seen the species…

BBC ONE Planet Earth III airs soon on BBC One, BBC iPlayer, BBC America and AMC+ MIKE WAS ALREADY THINKING ABOUT PLANET EARTH III when the previous series aired back in 2016. I suppose we all were, but it takes time to develop and research a landmark on this scale – especially since we set ourselves the task of raising an already very high bar. Our incredibly talented and hardworking team have certainly achieved that. Across the series we’ve filmed in new, previously unseen locations telling stories that are dramatic, thrilling, sometimes funny, sometimes heartbreaking, but always full of hope. And Planet Earth wouldn’t be Planet Earth without David Attenborough, and I am delighted he is presenting the third series. As ever, he has brought his huge enthusiasm and wisdom…

THE QUESTION OF whether animals can be gay has long fascinated scientists and laypeople alike. This has partly arisen from a desire to find parallels for human sexual behaviours and orientations in the natural world to prove its ‘naturalness’ – or the opposite. In the past, the existence of non-exclusively ‘heterosexual’ behaviours in other animals has been used to justify its existence in humans. Through a modern lens, however, such justification is clearly unnecessary. A behaviour doesn’t have to exist in other animals for it to be okay in humans. Headlines such as ‘10 animal species that show how being gay is natural’ may be well meaning but ultimately they do a disservice. This type of thinking is called the naturalistic fallacy, which is a trap people can fall into…

Email your questions to wildquestions@immediate.co.uk What does a vampire squid eat? STRANGE THINGS LURK IN THE planet’s deepest, darkest corners. And it doesn’t get much deeper and darker than the bottom of the ocean, or stranger than Vampyroteuthis infernalis – the ‘vampire squid from hell’. This 30cm-long cephalopod may have the largest eyes, compared to body size, of any animal – all the better for detecting what little light is available at depths of 600-3,300m. Despite its name – inspired by its dark colour and the cloak-like webbing between its arms – the vampire squid is neither vampire nor squid. It is the sole member of its own cephalopod order. Like the octopus, it has eight legs, but is equipped with a pair of thin trailing filaments, which may be…

BLOOD IS KNOWN FOR BEING VITAL to vampires and for transporting substances around the body. The fluid has many functions, from fighting infection to generating hydraulic force in an erect penis, but its main role is to supply oxygen and nutrients so that an animal’s cells can fuel respiration and power metabolic reactions. Do all animals have blood? No. Many invertebrates have open circulation: instead of true blood, they use haemolymph, a fluid that empties into the body cavity and bathes cells before it reenters blood vessels. Insect haemolymph doesn’t even carry oxygen! Instead, gases move in and out of the body through air-filled tubes known as tracheae. This tracheal system depends on diffusion (the movement of molecules from areas of high to low concentration) for gas exchange between cells…

Bite size I like to walk in the forest and photograph interesting animal behaviour, such as this red fox catching a rodent. Zdeněk Filák, Frýdek-Místek, Czech Republic Rich pickings On late afternoons one spring, local muntjac would emerge from their hiding places to feed on young oak leaves knocked to the ground by grey squirrels. Ian Harris, Elsing, Norfolk Splish splash White-rumped munia are small passerine birds found in tropical parts of Asia. Here, a pair beat the heat by splashing in water. Ankit Mitra, Kolkata, India Test flight A three-month-old pharaoh eagle owl attempts to fly in the desert in eastern Saudi Arabia. Ahmed ElKahlawi, Saudi Arabia Skips a beat A rare silver-spotted skipper butterfly feeds on field scabious at Old Winchester Hill in Hampshire. The species is restricted…

I THINK IT IS TIME YOUR MAGAZINE published an informative article on the wild bee and pollinator crisis. So many people in the UK are fundamentally confused about the situation and it is your duty to bring clarity. The public often hears that the bees are in trouble and equate them with honeybees – please clear up this confusion. Many people support beekeeping because they think they are ‘saving the bees’ but farmed honeybees are not wild animals, they are livestock. The farmed honeybee is a breed of the ubiquitous western honeybee (Apis mellifera), which is found on all habitable continents (due to introduction) and is in no danger of extinction. Wild bee species and pollinators are, however, in real peril, which is somewhat unfortunate as they do the majority…

Off-roading and bush walks Kruger National Park and Sabi Sands Game Reserve, Limpopo, South Africa Kruger is the prime destination for seeing Africa’s Big Five, although finding them all on a self-drive package requires stamina. To “almost guarantee success,” Andre Van Kets (Discover Africa) recommends “staying three to six days at the adjacent Sabi Sands reserve”. At this agglomeration of upmarket private reserves, white rhino is relatively common and leopards comparatively habituated. Jeeps are permitted to drive ‘off road’, while bush walks provide intimate encounters. In the northern Kruger, try Timbavati, where a group of ‘white’ lions have a genetic quirk of uniquely pale fur. East Africa’s black rhinos Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti, Tanzania In East Africa, black rhino can be hard to encounter, so strengthen your chances by…

Howl at the moon Yellowstone National Park, USA Visiting the New World’s first national park, established 151 years ago, is a fabulous experience at any season – and acknowledges the park’s influence on conservation action worldwide. But visiting in winter, when herds of elk and parties of American bison wander through the deep snow, is something else. With its cold-season assemblage of herbivores, the Lamar Valley is North America’s equivalent of the Serengeti. This forms an irresistible attraction for packs of grey wolf, which were introduced here 30 years ago, after seven decades of absence. The wolves do well to stay inside the park: outside its limits, they are hunted. La vie en rose Provence, France If the closest you have come to seeing flamingos is in Alice in Wonderland,…

Bardsey’s banshees Gwynedd, UK Make your world small and simple with a peaceable, wildlife-filled break on this tiny but rich Welsh island – the legendary resting place of 20,000 saints. Even the grey seals take things easy, sunbathing on rocks. Listen to the banshee wailing of Manx shearwaters in their subterranean burrows before the seabirds fly off to forage under the cover of darkness. Marvel at choughs – ragamuffin, aeronaut crows – dancing in the sky or join bird-observatory wardens as they catch and ring birds. Gently search the candy-pink thrift for thrift clearwing – a day-flying moth that mimics a wasp. A delightful break from hectic lifestyles. Scilly season Isles of Scilly, Cornwall, UK Golden sands and aquamarine seas make Scilly the UK’s answer to the Caribbean – perfect…

“The fairy wasp might be small and dainty but it is far from nice – especially if you’re a diving beetle” P.36 The presenter celebrates the life of Wangari Maathai, who founded The Green Belt Movement P.17 Unfortunately, we’re unable to feature a column from Mark this month, but he’ll be back as usual next issue “Female black larks gather dung to construct walls and pavements around their nests” P.27 The naturalist shares his pine marten-watching top tips, including identifying scat and footprints P.32 DON’T MISS… …the lowdown on the new Netflix series that tells the four-billion-year story of life on Earth Page 12…

WE ARE ONLY HERE BECAUSE of plankton,” says Life on Our Planet series producer Dan Tapster. And he has a point. Billions of years after Earth formed from a swirling mass of gas and dust and finally became habitable, life-forms were restricted to single-celled organisms in the ocean. But then came photosynthesis and the production of oxygen – and the rest, as they say, is (natural) history. Not since Attenborough’s Life on Earth in 1979 has anybody attempted to fully tell the story of the four-billion-year journey of the evolution of living things, and this spectacular new offering from Silverback Films takes on the inordinately complex challenge. Narrated by ‘voice of God’ Morgan Freeman, the eight episodes blend blue-chip wildlife cinematography with CGI animation – something never previously attempted in…

SEXUALLY SELECTED TRAITS – used to attract mates or vanquish rivals – are vital to an animal’s reproductive success, but are often a hindrance to everyday survival. A red deer’s antlers can weigh as much as 15kg, which is like trying to negotiate life with a small child attached to one’s head. Little surprise that they are shed once the rutting season is over and new ones grown for the next.…

TUCKED AWAY IN EDINBURGH Zoo is the WildGenes laboratory, run by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS), where scientists conduct cutting-edge, conservation-related genetic and genomic research on a range of different species. Helen Senn, head of conservation and science programmes at RZSS, outlines their work: “From monitoring animals in the wild to supporting species reintroductions and helping to control the illegal wildlife trade, we work alongside government agencies as well as conservation charities and zoos worldwide.” “DNA links all living things,” Helen explains. “I’m an evolutionary biologist and never stop being amazed by the power of nature to adapt and thrive. The reality is that the world’s biodiversity is vanishing fast. By working together, inspiring and empowering communities, we can make a difference.” “Populations lose genetic diversity as their…

ONCE THOUGHT TO BE EXTINCT, THE fortunes of the takahē continue to improve as a third wild population is established in New Zealand. In August, 18 birds were released into the wild in Greenstone Valley, Whakatipu wai-Māori, South Island. “The return of takahē to the Ngāi Tahu tribal property, Greenstone Station, marks their return to the Whakatipu-wai-Māori area after an absence of at least a century,” says Glen Greaves, senior ranger for Takahē Recovery at the Department of Conservation. The takahē is a flightless bird and the largest extant species in the rail family, which includes moorhens, coots and crakes. The species name usually refers to the South Island takahē, as it is long extinct on North Island, only known from subfossils and one potential record from the 1890s. The…

Spot the difference Brown fur patches – in the form of spots, splotches or ‘fingers’ – can often adorn the pine marten’s pale bib. These bib patterns can be distinct and unique, aiding identification. In the loop Most mammalogists spend a considerable amount of time looking at scat, and this is particularly true for pine marten researchers. A typical scat is long, slim, dark, sticky, shiny and with a distinctive loopy shape, as martens gyrate their bottoms while defecating! Let it snow After snowfall is a great time to look for pine marten tracks. Superficially resembling a domestic cat’s footprint, the marten’s print tends to be larger and usually shows only four of its five toes. Martens also possess a larger gap between their toe pads and the palm pad,…

What’s your personal highlight from making the series? We filmed in 43 countries across six continents, yet my personal highlight was filming the opening sequence in Kent with Sir David. It was such a great privilege. Can you share a particularly memorable wildlife encounter during filming? I visited Zakouma National Park, Chad, for the Deserts and Grasslands episode. It must be among the greatest conservation successes of all time. Elephants here were once almost hunted to extinction, but with careful management their numbers are bouncing back. Remarkably, some large bulls have become extremely trusting of the rangers and regularly come to a watering hole at the manager’s house. I stood face to face with a fully grown male, no more than a foot and a half apart, for a good…

BBC ONE Enjoy more on Zakouma National Park and its wildlife in Planet Earth III (p40) THEY SAY ELEPHANTS FORGIVE BUT NEVER FORGET. Those that approach Naftali Honig’s house to drink and bathe each day certainly display a humbling capacity to rekindle trust. Here, in Chad’s Zakouma National Park, the narrative is all about healing and human-wildlife coexistence after years of conflict and exploitation. Between 2002 and 2010, poachers on horseback ransacked Zakouma, decimating its natural resources and striking fear into the heart of local communities. Honig, who works as general manager of the Greater Zakouma Ecosystem for African Parks (a non-profit organisation that operates 22 parks across the continent), points to what look like bullet holes in the ears of a big bull, showering himself nonchalantly nearby. “For years,…

This title goes to one of the fruit bats of the genus Pteropus, several of which can weigh in at 1.6kg and boast a 1.7m wingspan (bigger and heavier than a buzzard). But which one? Precise measurements are elusive but the giant golden-crowned flying fox, also known as the golden-capped fruit bat, an endangered species endemic to the Philippines, is thought to have a longer wingspan than its rivals based on the length of the wing-bones. However, being slightly heavier, the great flying fox of New Guinea and the Indian flying fox are also in with a shout.…

TARANTULAS – MORE ACCURATELY called theraphosids – are large spiders with a fearsome reputation. Confusingly, the name tarantula originally referred to the wolf spider (Lycosa tarantula), which belongs to an entirely different family. It was thought that its bite could only be survived by performing a dance called the tarantella. However, in popular culture, the name tarantula is nowadays almost synonymous with theraphosids. Why are tarantulas so feared? Predominantly due to their large size, but also the long-held belief that their venom can be fatal to humans. While some species can produce medical symptoms in humans, no evidence of fatalities from theraphosid bites has ever been recorded. How many species are there? There are currently more than 1,000 species of theraphosid recognised, with further species being discovered every year. What’s…

How did you start your career? I’ve always had a creative flair. As soon as I was old enough, I got a job washing up so that I could buy a DSLR camera. I focused on seascapes until one day, a northern fulmar caught my eye - and my interest in wildlife took hold. What’s been your most memorable shoot to date? Photographing a polar bear in the Arctic. He was devouring a kill and lifted his head to assess his surroundings. I’m convinced we locked eyes – there’s nothing quite like a staredown with an iconic predator to get the adrenaline pumping. Have any animals damaged your gear? Not yet, but working mostly with seabirds, my gear and clothing are often spectacularly decorated in guano. What do you find…

1 Sand cat Surely the cutest desert animal, the sand cat is a small feline native to the stony and sandy plains of North Africa and South-West and Central Asia. Its diet consists primarily of small rodents such as mice and gerbils, but it can also feed on venomous vipers. The cat’s survival techniques include digging an impressive burrow in which to shelter from the heat of the day. 2 Deathstalker scorpion This chillingly named arachnid is one of the world’s deadliest – a single untreated sting can result in cardiac and respiratory failure, as well as extreme pain and paralysis. Found primarily in the scrubland and deserts of North Africa and the Middle East, it hunts by stealth, lying in wait for unsuspecting crickets and other insects to spring…

Massing mantas Lady Elliot Island, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia The world’s largest coral reef abounds with snorkelling and dive sites. At its southern tip, the coral cay of Lady Elliot Island ranks among the best. Snorkellers and beginners should make for a shallow lagoon along the island’s eastern edge, while established divers head west for deeper waters. Closely studied by scientists, large numbers of manta rays gather here from May to September. Loggerhead and green turtles breed on Lady Elliot: females come ashore from November to February, with hatchlings departing between February and April. Guests staying at the island’s solar-powered, sustainability-focused resort can experience the reef at night via a glass-bottomed boat. Atoll order Ari Atoll, Maldives Offering numerous options for world-class diving and snorkelling, the Maldives is a…

Survey wildlife in Madagascar Sainte Luce, Anosy, Madagascar According to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, Madagascar is a truly ‘megadiverse’ country. All of its amphibians and lemurs, 96 per cent of its vascular plants, 92 per cent of its reptiles and 37 per cent of its birds occur nowhere else on Earth. But with 80 per cent of its forest cleared, conservation is vital, so UK charity SEED Madagascar invites volunteers to add capacity to its research programmes. You can contribute by surveying for nocturnal lemurs, searching for endemic reptiles and amphibians to inform a wildlife-corridor initiative, counting a colony of flying-fox bats, or exploring wetlands to collect data on floral diversity. Aid shark conservation Riversdale, Belize Join a Florida International University shark expert to determine how marine reserves…