BBC Wildlife 2024 Spring Edition

SPRING
2024
Issue 04 Vol 42
discoverwildlife.com
How bringing back

wolves could heal
our landscape
10
WOMEN
WH
SHAPED O
CONSERV
ATION
Tasmania’s Inside a wildlife Where to see

wombat island hospital hammerheads
ON THE
The Eurasian
wolf is an apex
predator that
THIS divides opinion
MONTH
Buffalo
The Great American

Buffalo
A two-part series from
American director Ken Burns
that tells the tale of this
mythic and majectic species, which is a
symbol of the struggle between Native
Americans and new settlers.
Catch up on iPlayer
How wolves have been

portrayed leaves me howling
COVER: TIERFOTOAGENTUR / ALAMY; BUFFALO & SEA LION: GETTY; WOLF: ALAMY
California sealion
Wild Inside PAUL McGUINNESS, EDITOR

Ben Garrod and Jess French
delve deep into the anatomy
of some of nature’s most
wondrous wild animals, offering new erek Gow writes about our complicated
insights into their success as a species.
Recent episodes feature a California
relationship with wolves in this month’s cover
sealion, an aphid and a bearded vulture. story. As he explains, our ancestors, for their
Catch up on BBC Sounds
own ends, made wolves into an enemy. It’s just
Rare Earth propaganda, of course. Nature has no baddies
Don’t miss Alien Invasion, the or goodies, it has a balance, and when we upset that balance, the
latest episode in this Radio
4 series that asks whether consequences can be vast and long-lasting.
we should celebrate the arrival of new It’s a subject I find incredibly frustrating. As well as wolves,
species in the UK or drive them out?
Presenters Tom Heap and Helen Czerski we have seen the reputations of a fairly random selection of
consider worms, squirrels and more.
Catch up on BBC Sounds animals tarnished. Jaws made us scared of sharks, while The Lion
King made us hate hyenas.
But as Derek explains, anti-wolf senitments are being
overturned on the European mainland
Keep in touch in recent years. It makes me wonder
wildlifemagazine@ourmedia.co.uk
whether we’ll see such a reversal of
instagram.com/bbcwildlifemagazine
twitter.com/WildlifeMag fortunes for the wolf in Britain any
facebook.com/wildlifemagazine time soon. After all, why not?
discoverwildlife.com BBC WILDLIFE 3

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Paul McGuinness
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Erlend Haarberg, Ben Hoare, Melissa Hobson, Amy May Holt, Chien C Lee, James Lowen, Matthew Maran, Fábio Mazim,
Andrea Michelutti, Jenny Price, Lassi Rautiainen, Peter David Scott, Megan Shersby, Richard Smyth, Wanda Sowry,
Ryan St Laurent, Roberta Staley, Jemina Stuart-Smith, Tallulah, Bryant Turffs, Nick Upton, Leoma Williams
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4 BBC WILDLIFE Spring 2024

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BBC Wildlife No. 04 Vol. 42
WOLF: LASSI RAUTIAINEN/NATUREPL.COM; MARINA: GETTY; ORANGUTAN: CHRISTOPHE COURTEAU/

Could we learn to love wolves?
NATUREPL.COM; CRANE: NICK UPTON/RSPB-IMAGES.COM

THE COVER
This month’s cover features
an Eurasian wolf, a predator
that has seen a remarkable
comeback after being absent
from large swathes of Europe
for hundreds of years. It’s now
estimated that there are at least
17,000 wolves living across 28
countries, but they have been
extinct in the UK since around
the mid-18th century.
Every month, only in BBC Wildlife
NICK BAKER GILLIAN BURKE MARK CARWARDINE LUCY COOKE MIKE DILGER
“The hero shrew could “Circular time reminds us “The good news is that “That a bacterium could “At the Galápagos,
withstand being stood on that we reap what we sow, many countries are giving take complete control of numbers of scalloped
by a 70kg human for five encouraging us to think nature legal rights. It’s a determining the sex of its hammerheads can reach
minutes at a time” P.36 twice before acting” P.21 game-changer” P.31 host is astonishing” P.27 into the thousands” P.32

08 Wild Times
Catch up with all the latest
developments and discoveries
Marina Silva helps protect the Amazon
32 Where to see
hammerheads
Naturalist Mike Dilger takes
us to oceanic islands where
scalloped hammerheads can
be seen with just a snorkel
36 Hidden World
The super-strength spine of the
hero shrew is one of nature’s
mysteries, as our regular
columnist Nick Baker explains
40 Exiled
The wolf has a long and
fascinating, but troubled history
in Britain, and opinion over
their return remains divided
46 Photo Story:
expedition Borneo
A window into the wild riches
of this rugged, forested island in
the Malay archipelago
56 Inside a wildlife
hospital
Staff and volunteers in Metro
Vancouver are determined
to work miracles on the wild
victims of climate change
DiscoverMORE
64 Ten women who
shaped conservation
From Jane Goodall to Wangari
Maathai, our pick of inspiring
wildlife champions to celebrate
International Women’s Day
72 Tasmania’s 80 Q&A
Orangutans are What is an Old World monkey
wombat island one of four great and how long do snakes live?
Once a convict settlement, apes, p86
Maria Island is now a sanctuary 86 Species guide
All you ever wanted to know
for endangered species
about great apes
89 Crossword
Plus Spot the Difference
DON’T MISS...
90 Photo Club
Including Snap Chat
94 Your Letters
Join the debate
...news that the
population of 98 10 deadly
once-extinct
common
sea creatures
From venomous box jellyfish
cranes has hit
to crocodiles with the
a record high
strongest bite in the world
in the UK
Page 18

What’s happening right now
SWAMP STAR
A Florida gar drifts through a wetland
in the Everglades National Park,
illuminated by sunlight filtering
through a canopy of cypress trees
BRYANT TURFFS
and accompanied by a group of

largemouth bass. Remarkably, this
image – a winner in the Ocean Art
Underwater Photo Contest 2023 –
was shot with a GoPro.

“It wasn't me!”:
a male bullfinch
caught in the act,
beak caked in food
Blossom busters
Fruit trees erupting into bloom prove tempting
for colourful bullfinches at this time of year
hanks to their chunky beak and caught and killed every year, well into the
thickset neck, bullfinches make second half of the 20th century.
short work of all sorts of seeds, Today, bullfinches are attracting
and over the past 30 years they’ve attention for another reason. It turns out
become a welcome visitor to they are among the most monogamous
garden birdfeeders. But in spring, of all British birds, with mated pairs
bullfinches also have a taste for remaining steadfastly loyal – which is rarer
flower buds on trees – they’re in the bird world than you might imagine.
particularly fond of apple and Tim Birkhead of the University of Sheffield
cherry blossom. This blossom thievery argues that this kind of monogamy is a sign
earned them a terrible reputation in times of greater intelligence, since it relies on
gone by, especially in areas with lots of an unusually high level of communication
orchards, where they might reduce the between the male and female. Something
harvest. Incredible as it may now seem, to marvel at next time you’re watching a
tens of thousands of bullfinches were pair of these handsome birds. Ben Hoare

The new series shows how investigations
took place in the forests of Kerala, India
Crime thriller
Amazon Prime drama
Poacher delves into
a dark underworld
or an insight into the gritty
reality of wildlife crime, look
no further than this compelling
eight-part drama for Amazon
Prime, written and directed by
award-winning film-maker Richie
Mehta. Set in the forests of Kerala
and on the streets of Delhi, Poacher
recounts the events leading up
to the takedown of an extensive elephant
ivory-poaching ring – the largest in Indian
history – in July 2015. The series showcases
BULLFINCH: DAVID CHAPMAN; POACHER: AMAZON PRIME
the efforts of those involved, from forest

officials to the police, many of whom risked
their lives to defeat the criminals and protect
this charismatic and keystone species.
“Poacher promises to engage audiences
across the world with its edge-of-the-seat
narrative, and compel us to introspect how
our actions can have an irrevocable impact
on the environment,” says Prime Video
India’s Manish Menghani. “It has the power
to inspire communities to action.”
The series is predominantly in Hindi
and Malayalam with English subtitles, and is
available to stream now.
Sarah McPherson

Giant anteater spotted
for first time in 130 years
Hundreds of hours of survey footage have revealed the rare
mammal in the south-west of Rio Grande do Sul state in Brazil
ildlife camera traps have good condition and established in the or poaching have been released, and several
recorded footage of a giant area,” says Mazim. “At the moment it is generations now live in Iberá Wetlands.
anteater wandering through impossible for us to determine if it is male The discovery in Rio Grande do Sul
scrubland in Espinilho State or female, one or even several different state, along with additional sightings over
Park in the state of Rio individuals.” a 100km range, suggest that Iberá’s giant
Grande do Sul, Brazil. It is According to WWF Brazil, the species anteaters are colonising other regions.
the first time since the 1890s was once present in all 27 Brazilian states. For the next stage of the project,
that this large mammal It is now threatened with extinction in researchers will try to find out if there are
has been seen in the all regions of the country and has been more individuals in the area, and determine
south-west of the state. Experts think the lost from some states entirely. The main what their favoured habitat is. “We
anteater came from Iberá National Park in causes of the population decline are the intend to capture the individual sighted
Argentina, where a major rewilding project degradation and loss of habitat, hunting, in Espinilho State Park, collect biological
has been underway since 2007. road accidents and forest fires. samples for genetic analysis, and compare
The anteater was spotted by Brazilian Giant anteaters were first reintroduced them with the populations that exist
biologist Fábio Mazim as he was reviewing to Iberá National Park in 2007 by Rewilding elsewhere in Brazil,” says Flávia Miranda,
hundreds of hours of footage for a wildlife Argentina. Since the start of the project, a veterinarian who has been studying the
survey. “The animal seems to be in very 110 anteaters orphaned by road accidents species for 25 years. Danny Graham

Camera traps captured the
mammal about a dozen
times over six months
Intensive farming is
one driver for the steep
decline in Britain’s bees
The largest of the anteater

species, giant anteaters
can be almost 2.5m long
Banned pesticide given
the green light again
Despite the harm it causes bees, a neonicotinoid
has been approved for ‘emergency use’ on sugar beet
n mid-January, the UK government spread via sap-feeding aphids. It results in
confirmed that if conditions were met, a reduction in the size and sugar content
then the neonicotinoid thiamethoxam of affected sugar beet and can make a plant
could be used on sugar beet to tackle vulnerable to other infections. In 2020, the
Virus Yellows disease. This is the fourth disease led to yield losses of up to 80 per
year in a row that the pesticide has been cent. Due to the ban, the emergency use of
approved for emergency use, and wildlife thiamethoxam on sugar beet seeds to tackle
charities are calling on the government to the disease is only allowed when a certain
find alternatives. national threshold of the virus is predicted
Neonicotinoids, often shortened to by scientists at Rothamsted Research. This
‘neonics’, are a group of insecticides that year’s threshold is set to 64 per cent.
are used to kill pest invertebrates such as “DEFRA’s granting of our joint
aphids that feed on crops, and in veterinary application with NFU Sugar for emergency
medicine to tackle ticks and fleas. use of a neonicotinoid seed treatment is an
GIANT ANTEATER: FUNDACION REWILDING ARGENTINA; CAMERA TRAP
STILL: FABIO DIAZ MAZIM/INSTITUTO PRÓ-CARNÍVOROS; BEE: GETTY
“It is shocking that once again, the important decision which, if it is needed,
government has gone against the advice of will enable the UK’s sugar beet growers to
its own expert advisors and decided to put protect their 2024 crops from Virus Yellows
wildlife at risk,” says David Smith, social disease, while work continues on finding a
change and advocacy officer at Buglife. long-term solution to the problem,” says
“Thiamethoxam is highly toxic Dan Green, agriculture director at
to bees and aquatic invertebrates British Sugar.
and is known to persist in “Any use of the seed
the environment long after treatment is subject to strict
application. Neonicotinoids controls, including that a
were banned due to their bare minimum amount is
dangerous effects; the ban used, there is a restriction on
must be upheld, and their use flowering crops being planted
stopped if we are to have any in the same field following
chance of meeting targets to seed-treated sugar beet,
halt the decline of nature.” and growers must take part in
Virus Yellows disease is a David Smith knowledge exchange programmes.”
complex of three viruses that is from Buglife Megan Shersby

Now’s the
time to see
fritillaries
Just a few special sites
offer sweeping displays
n April and May, one of our most

unusual wildflowers enjoys its moment
in the sun. The snake’s-head fritillary
grows from a bulb, producing spindly
stems with pink or purple, bell-like
flowers. The gently nodding flowers are
exquisitely fragile, with a delicate chequered
pattern unlike any other plant in Britain –
while there are many different fritillaries to
be found in south-east Europe, this is our
sole native species.
In the past, the snake’s-head fritillary
grew in profusion in traditionally managed
water meadows by rivers. Sadly, nearly
all those spectacular spring displays have
vanished. You will only find carpets of
fritillaries in a handful of places nowadays,
most famously North Meadow at Cricklade
in Wiltshire, Magdalen College in Oxford,
and Iffley Meadows in Oxfordshire, where
more than 40,000 flowers have been
Snake’s-head counted. In 2023, the Cricklade site had to
blooms glow in be closed to visitors due to severe flooding;
the low sun of hopefully, this year it will welcome botanical
dusk and dawn
pilgrims once again.
Ben Hoare
ORIGIN Spotty coats help

the big cats hide in
OF PIECES dappled forests
AN ANATOMICAL MISCELLANY
SNAKE’S-HEAD FRITILLARY: BOB GIBBONS; LEOPARD: GETTY
A leopard’s spots
e know that leopards have spots
to provide camouflage. But how
do the pigments become arranged
in such distinctive patterns? The
famous mathematician Alan Turing
proposed that it’s the result of
two chemicals spreading out from different
points across the surface of a developing
animal, like the waves from pebbles dropped
into a pond. While a single pebble produces
regular circular waves, two pebbles generate
more complex patterns as the waves interact
with each other. Stuart Blackman

GOLDEN WONDERS
rom April, look out for the golden flowers of cowslip. The species
may owe its name to its tendency to grow around dung on cattle-
grazed meadows – ‘cowslop’, meaning cowpat, became ‘cowslip’.
These blooms are uncommon on farmed pasture today, but
thanks to widespread seed-scattering, we can now enjoy them
in many other grassy places, even in urban areas. Ben Hoare
Red handfish ‘walk’
on fins instead of
swimming
Out of hot water

Critically Endangered red handfish removed from
the wild to safeguard the species from extinction
wenty five red handfish – a pollution and nutrient run-off, as well as

Critically Endangered species of habitat degradation (by overgrazing of
anglerfish – have been taken into native sea urchins) and the impacts of
care by scientists at the Institute for climate change.
Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) Walking along the seabed instead of
at the University of Tasmania. The swimming means these diminutive fish
relocation, carried out with permission from can’t travel very far to escape these threats.
the Australian government to protect the Neither do they have a larval stage when
species against predicted marine heatwaves, young, so they cannot drift through the
has decreased the wild red handfish ocean to colonise new areas.
population from approximately 100 to just Add predicted marine heatwaves to the
75 individuals. picture and the outcome could be bleak. “We
Unlike other fish, red handfish don’t can only assume that this additional stressor
have a swim bladder to control their will impact the already fragile population,”
buoyancy. Instead, they use their large, says IMAS researcher Jemina Stuart-Smith,
hand-like fins to ‘walk’ along the seafloor. who co-leads its red handfish research and
These peculiar creatures are around 8cm conservation programme.
long – smaller than a playing card – and “This strategy certainly isn’t without
pink, red or brown in colour with a ‘grumpy’, risk, but the handfish relocation from sea to COWSLIP: DAVID CHAPMAN; RED HANDFISH: JEMINA STUART-SMITH;
downturned mouth. “If you’ve never seen a aquariums was quite seamless, and they have
ANDREW TROTTER & JEMINA STUART-SMITH: PETER W. ALLEN
handfish before, imagine dipping a toad in settled into their new homes very nicely,”
some brightly coloured paint, telling it a sad says Andrew Trotter, who leads IMAS’s
story and forcing it to wear gloves two conservation breeding project for
sizes too big,” says the Handfish red handfish.
Conservation Project website. The team hopes to return
One of 14 handfish the individuals to the wild in
species, all of which are the winter, provided their
found off southern Australia, habitat is suitable. Until then,
predominantly Tasmania, the the focus is on restoration
red handfish is thought to be and management while the
one of the rarest marine fish in 25 individuals are kept safe in
the world. It is restricted to two the aquariums. “We don’t want
The nodding small areas of rocky reef south- to keep them any longer than
blooms of cowslip
east of Hobart, and is buffeted IMAS scientists necessary,” says Trotter. “They’re
are a sign of spring
by threats such as boat traffic, Jemina Stuart-Smith wild animals and belong in the
anchoring, urban development, and Andrew Trotter sea.” Melissa Hobson

The pocket-sized
pink fairy armadillo
is rarely seen
A caterpillar with a whip in its tail
NEW SPECIES DISCOVERY
Americerura
brasiliensis
WHAT IS IT?
Many members of this moth family (the
prominents) have remarkable caterpillars,
and this new species is no exception.
Resembling a boldly marked European
puss moth, its hindmost legs have been
remodelled as a pair of defensive organs
World’s smallest called stemapods, which each extrude a

red, whip-like filament to deter predators.
armadillo has a
WHERE IS IT?
South-east Brazil, where it feeds on plants
from the willow family. It belongs to a
genus of American species whose closest
unique double skin relatives occur in Africa, which suggests its

ancestors managed to cross the Atlantic.
WHAT’S THE MEANING BEHIND THE

SCIENTIFIC NAME?
Two layers are better than one – particularly if you Americerura combines America and
Cerura (the name of its African relatives),
spend most of your life underground
ARMADILLO: ALAMY; CATERPILLAR: RYAN ST LAURENT; CRANE: NICK UPTON/RSPB-IMAGES.COM
to acknowledge both its current

distribution and its evolutionary origins.
Brasiliensis refers to the known range of
recent study has revealed that the known as osteoderms. This is relatively this particular species. Stuart Blackman
pink fairy armadillo – an extremely soft and flexible compared to the skin
rare, desert-dwelling armadillo of other armadillo species. Beneath this Find out more tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1
080/00222933.2023.2282624
endemic to central Argentina – is an inner layer, from which silky, white
possesses a ‘double skin’. The hairs grow. The design is thought to be an IN BRIEF
adaptation is unique not only among adaptation to the species’ subterranean
armadillos, but also among mammals. habitat – the suppleness of the dorsal shield
The research, led by biologist Cecilia enables it to adapt to the shape of tunnels, Standing tall
Krmpotic and published in the Journal while the flexible hairs allow for easier The population of common cranes,
the UK’s tallest bird, has hit a
of Zoology, was the first to examine the movement underground.
record high, according to the RSPB.
integumentary system – the layer “Due to its fossorial lifestyle, little Breeding survey data from 2023
including skin and hair – of the is known about the pink fairy shows that a record 80 pairs were
pink fairy armadillo. armadillo. “I’ve never seen confirmed in the UK, with
According to Krmpotic’s one,” says Krmpotic. “They 36 young known to
findings, the armadillo, are extremely rare animals have fledged. The
which, unlike its larger to see in their natural species, driven to
relatives, spends most habitat. There is still a extinction in the
UK during the
of its life underground, lot to discover about this
1500s, is now at
has a leathery outer layer species.” Megan Shersby its highest level
of skin (a ‘dorsal shield’) since its comeback
comprising scales made of Biologist Cecilia Krmpotic in 1979.
keratin and bony deposits led the armadillo research

What does it take for women
to live and work in the wild?
‘Piercing, funny . . .
delightfully brilliant’
NICOLA CHESTER
‘A timely reminder of
the feminine energy
behind some
groundbreaking
successes in global
wildlife conservation’
SOPHIE PAVELLE
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ŽƌǀŝƐŝƚǁǁǁƐƟůƚǌĐŽƵŬ
Is spring a new beginning, a
fresh start? Or is it more like a
return to a familiar place? While
some of the greatest minds have
contemplated the concept of time for over a
century, their theories don’t always match up
to our everyday experience of time and how
it passes in nature.
For most of us, time is experienced as a
linear sequence of events that flow from the
Catch up with
present into the past, while possible futures all four episodes
are laid out before us. But what about in of Winterwatch
nature itself? Take a hatching chick. It enters on iPlayer
a straight-line race, where life is a sequence
of unique events that cannot be repeated or
reversed. The chick grows, matures and then
dies. That’s life, as they say.
Some cultures and ways of life, however,
find a cyclical view of time more useful.
Certainly, nature watchers and land workers
tend to be more attuned to circular time,
where life and its rhythms are shaped by the
perpetual ebb and flow of cycles and seasons.
This apparent circular flow is what gives
organisms a chance to return, reappraise and
build on experience in order to pass adaptive
traits along an ever-evolving spiral of life.
Chronognosis (in Latin, chrono is time
and gnosis is knowledge) is the perception of
the passage of time, and particularly refers
to casting your mind back in order to relive
specific past events or anticipate the future. Our experience of
Described as ‘mental time travel’, this time can change
was once thought to be a uniquely human our behaviour
ability, allowing us to transport ourselves
back to what we were doing and where we
were when an impactful event took place. OPINION
Some research, however, suggests that at
least some other species have a version of
‘what-where-when’ mental time travel.
Western scrub jays are intelligent and
long-lived corvids that have the habit of
storing, or caching, their surplus food
to get them through leaner times. Their
remarkable ability to recover hidden food
supplies over weeks and months has been
well-documented, but is this simply down to “Nature watchers and land workers
creating a ‘mental map’, or did the birds have
a sense of time passing? are more attuned to circular time”
Researchers tested their abilities by
offering perishable and non-perishable food
items, and found that the birds adjusted their storing every detail of a special event, such performance and work towards a goal, which
retrieval behaviour according to how quickly as a marriage proposal, or a ‘what were you is helpful, but this same mindset also fosters
the different food items began to rot. They doing when’ memory around a history-in- a sense that we only get one shot. It can
were doing more than ‘dropping a pin’ to tell the-making world event. encourage reckless, destructive behaviour.
them where the food is hidden; they were Even more remarkable still, these highly On the other hand, embracing the
also storing information about what and social birds added a ‘who’ to the what-where- concept of circular time reminds us that
when food was hidden. What-where-when when. If a dominant bird was watching them we reap what we sow. Not only does this
mental time travel is responsible for us cache a food item, they will be more careful encourage us to think twice before acting,
when retrieving the item to avoid a cache but offers the promise of revisiting old
theft. Not bad for a bird brain. ground to heal, repair and regenerate.
Gillian Burke is a biologist,
NINA CONSTABLE
writer, film-maker, TV The impact of mental time travel extends Food for thought when we consider how
presenter and podcaster. far beyond simple memory tasks, though. to interact and treat both the human and
She joined the BBC Two For us humans, linear ‘timekeeping’ offers non-human life with which we share this
Watches team in 2017. the ability to measure progress, increase beautiful planet.

More than 1,000
European bison
roam Poland
Poland pauses logging

in ancient forests
The new government’s decision will provide
temporary relief for brown bears and bison
nvironmentalists in Poland have “The most valuable old-growth forests
welcomed the decision by the Polish such as the Białowieża and Carpathian
government to suspend logging for six Forests need immediate and permanent
months in 10 of the country’s forests, protection,” says Wiktor. “They have been
many of which are internationally devastated in recent years by irresponsible
important biodiversity hotspots, logging carried out by state foresters
including the famous Białowieża Forest. politicised by the previous government.”
The move is the first step in protecting 20 The wildlife in Białowieża Forest is also
per cent of forests, which the government threatened by a 186km long and 5m high
promised on being elected last October. razor-wire fence running along the Polish-
“A partial moratorium in 10 locations is Belarusian border, built in 2022 to prevent
FACT.
BISON: ALAMY; ALEKSANDRA WIKTOR: MAX ZIELINSKI
a good solution, but only for a short while,” asylum seekers from entering the country.
says Aleksandra Wiktor, Greenpeace Poland “Animal migration routes are blocked,
biodiversity campaigner. which may lead to the collapse of the
Poland is home to some lynx population in the Polish part of
of Europe’s last surviving Białowieża,” says Wiktor, adding
ancient forests, which host that: “therefore it is necessary Cuttlefish have three hearts, two of
brown bears, lynx and to protect the Carpathian which pump blood to its gills, while
the third circulates blood around the
wolves, whilst Białowieża (lynx) population and those
body. They also have blue blood,
Forest is home to found in other regions even
CUTTLEFISH: ALAMY
so-coloured thanks to a copper-

around 800 European more effectively.” rich protein known as hemocyanin,
bison. Uncontrolled and Simon Birch which transports oxygen around the
controversial logging has, body. (Mammal blood is red due to
however, threatened the long- Aleksandra Wiktor from haemoglobin.)
term future of all these forests. Greenpeace Poland

Both sides of an
orange-tip’s wings
deserve attention
SPLASH OF COLOUR
ORANGE-TIP BUTTERFLY MAIN: DAVID CHAPMAN;
range-tips flitting along a verge or woodland ride are one of the

classic spring spectacles. The butterflies we see in April, May
and June have all hatched from last year’s pupae, after safely
overwintering. Chris Packham, in his classic book Back Garden
INSET: OLIVER SMART
Nature Reserve, calls these lovely insects “a colour-by-numbers

painting set from a six-year-old’s fairytale.” Ben Hoare
AFRICAN HAWK-EAGLE: GETTY
The African hawk-
eagle is found in
sub-Saharan Africa
Raptor numbers in scale of the declines are shocking but not

surprising given the pace of development
in countries such as Kenya and ongoing
droughts impacting prey availability.
freefall across Africa Roads and transmission lines both have a

devastating effect. Roadkill attracts carrion-
eaters such as vultures and eagles, which can
Rampant development and climate change are then become victims themselves, while birds
get electrocuted on the lines or hit pylons.
leading to declines in large areas of the continent Another co-author, Phil Shaw, an
honorary research fellow at the University
of St Andrews, said he hoped the findings
arge raptors, including many species from Vulnerable to Critically Endangered. would result in many of Africa’s large raptors
of eagle, are declining at alarming rates Bateleurs, martial eagles and secretarybirds having their designations changed by the
DARCY: M. ODINO; WILD BOAR PIGLET: ALAMY

outside of protected areas in Africa, all suffered 80 per cent declines, too. IUCN. Whether there is an increase in
according to new research in Nature The research was carried out by counting funding to bring back populations remains
Ecology & Evolution. Populations of 10 raptors along road transects in Mali, to be seen. “The priority list in
species with a body mass of more than Burkino Faso and Niger in West Africa consists of rhinos at the
1.3kg have plummeted by 80 per cent over a Africa, Cameroon, Kenya, top, elephants right next to
period of 30 years, with those of another 11 Botswana and South Africa. them and then lions and other
species halving during the same time period. One of the co-authors big cats,” Ogada said. “My
As a result, according to the study, the of the report, Darcy Ogada, instinct tells me that close to
African hawk-eagle, designated as Least Africa program director at 95 per cent of all funding for
Concern by the IUCN Red List, merits the Peregrine Fund, says the wildlife conservation goes to
being reclassified as Critically Endangered, those top layers.” James Fair
while Beaudouin’s snake-eagle would go Darcy Ogado, co-author of the study
FROM THE BBC WILDLIFE ARCHIVE April 2015
Nature’s weirdest designs

In the April 2015 issue, BBC Wildlife investigated how natural selection can
NEXT ISSUE
WILD BOAR
sometimes lead to design flaws and clumsy workarounds. Take the flatfish. Adorable stripy
“With a wonky skull, an eyeball capable of migrating to the opposing side of piglets that look
their head and an apparent inability to swim in a straight line, it’s no wonder like humbugs
that it made Darwin lose sleep,” said naturalist Jules Howard. How could such a will soon be
fish evolve? “No one is sure,” Howard concludes. “Flatfish, with their Picasso- following their
esque faces, are a wonderful reminder that new modes of life can arise from mothers around
even the most rigid of forms.” the forest

The Wildlife Trusts is a movement of 46 independent Wildlife Trusts supported by a central charity, the Royal
Society of Wildlife Trusts. Together we cover the whole of the UK, Alderney, and the Isle of Man. Copyright Royal
Society of Wildlife Trusts 2023. Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts Registered Charity Number 207238.
Image: ducklings © Andrew Parkinson/2020VISION
How to greet
a cockchafer
The charming nocturnal beetle
has an array of alternative names
ockchafers are stuck with an what about ‘May bugs’? This name reflects
unfortunate name (it’s actually the peak flight season of the adult beetles,
derived from an old word for beetle). though they can be seen in April, too.
But these impressive insects have Cockchafers are active at night and,
been called lots of other things like many insects, are strongly attracted to
over the years, so there are plenty light. So if you’re in a rural area and leave
of alternatives to choose from. You could, the lights on and curtains open, you may
if you prefer, call them ‘doodle bugs’, a find them blundering into your windows.
reference to Germany’s V-1 flying bombs, They also turn up in the brightly lit (but
which, like the beetles, made a terrible harmless) traps used by moth enthusiasts.
noise as they hurtled through the air. Or Ben Hoare

This completely harmless
member of the scarab
beetle family grows
up to 3cm long
FEMALE OF THE SPECIES
WOODLOUSE
Lucy Cooke on the clever bacterium

that can change a woodlouse’s sex
s a kid I had a huge affection
for the humble woodlouse – a
curious garden invertebrate
with a love of damp, dark hiding
places and a cute habit of curling
up into a ball when threatened.
What I never knew about these
defensive little bugs is that they’re
in an evolutionary war with a
bacterium that’s intent on turning them all
into females.
Why? Well, Wolbachia, the bacterium in
question, needs female woodlice in order to
proliferate. It infects the cells of woodlice
and only passes down the female line.
Mothers can transmit the bacterium to their Male or female? Well, it’s complicated...
young but daddy woodlice are dead ends. So
Wolbachia has evolved to do something very that were uninfected by Wolbachia. How
devious indeed: turn useless male embryos could it be possible for genetic males to
into useful female ones by interfering with become functioning females without the
the development of hormone-producing presence of the bacterium to influence their
glands. So any infected male embryonic developmental hormones?
woodlice develop into females instead, It transpires that the segment of DNA
regardless of their sex chromosomes. in the bacteria that was responsible for
Woodlice have a different sex feminising the ZZ woodlice males had
determining system to the XX/XY system migrated into the woodlouse’s own genome,
found in humans. Males have ZZ sex thereby creating a new genetic trigger for
chromosomes, and females are ZW. Unless the female pathway, on the Z chromosome
they are infected by Wolbachia, in which instead of the W. So here was a population of
case ZZ males become females. In some woodlouse that were all ZZ, ie genetic males,
populations affected by Wolbachia the but developed instead into females without
W chromosome has disappeared altogether, the presence of the microbe or the, now lost,
leaving the bacterium alone in charge of W chromosome.
determining the sex of each woodlouse by The tale of the woodlouse and Wolbachia
its presence or absence. demonstrates the plastic nature of sex
COCKCHAFER: JAMES LOWEN; ILLUSTRATION BY HOLLY EXLEY
That a bacterium could take complete determination, and the extraordinary ways in
control of determining the sex of which genetic triggers for sex evolve. It’s
its host is an astonishing twist a story that may not be exclusive to
of evolutionary fate. But the the woodlouse. Wolbachia is thought
Wolbachia versus the woodlouse to infect up to 66 per cent of all
story gets twistier still. arthropod species. It is the most
In 1984, scientists studying common reproductive parasite in
the woodlouse found some the world and could be exerting
populations with ZZ females its ‘feminising effect’ on a ‘male’
insect near you.
Catch up
with Lucy’s Lucy is a broadcaster,
three-part zoologist and auathor of
BBC Radio Four series, Bitch: What Does It Mean
Political Animals To Be Female? (Penguin
paperback on sale now)

Spring
calling
Listen out for the
heartstopping song
of the blackcap
ith their smart skullcaps –

jet black in males, chestnut in
females – blackcaps are pretty
dapper birds. But it is the male
blackcap’s song that really makes
your heart soar. Gilbert White,
the great 18th-century nature diarist, called
the performance a “full, sweet, deep, loud
and wild pipe.” It’s so full of joie de vivre,
it easily outdoes most other birds singing
nearby. Indeed, the blackcap’s song rivals
even that of the nightingale.
You’re far more likely to hear blackcaps
than nightingales, of course. The former
start singing in the first half of March, and
continue pouring their hearts out throughout
the land until at least July. Nightingales, on
the other hand, arrive in southern England
Woods, gardens, much later, from mid-April, and their
hedgerows and celebrated song is seldom heard after early
scrubby areas June. And nightingales are seriously rare,
host blackcaps
increasingly confined to a few strongholds
in south-east England. Ben Hoare
POO CORNER
The mammal’s
faeces can be
very smelly
ID GUIDE
BLACKCAP: ROBIN CHITTENDEN; DROPPINGS: GETTY; RACCOON: GETTY

Raccoon
It’s worth knowing what raccoon poo looks
like – especially if you’re from North America,
where the species is most abundant – as
it can contain roundworm eggs, which are
harmful to both humans and pets. Look
for dark, tubular droppings with
blunted ends. Raccoons create
communal latrines, but you
may also spot their scat at the
base of trees or raised up on
log piles. Closer inspection
(don’t touch!) may reveal
undigested food such as
berries, nuts or grains.
Raccoon droppings can be
mistaken for those of the
opossum or skunk.

" ee you in court!” That’s the
A proposed badger cull
message from innovative
became the subject of
environmentalists who have had a High Court battle
enough of politely requesting
politicians and big business leaders
to do the right thing.
In conservation, being polite
rarely works. Just look at our
environmentally criminal water
companies to see how profit takes priority
over civic responsibilities and moral principle.
It’s not surprising that ever more urgent
and alarming environmental threats are
forcing conservationists to consider more
unorthodox and uncompromising tactics.
Which is why holding big corporations and
governments accountable – by taking them to
court – is becoming an increasingly significant
conservation tool.
Climate change litigation is leading
the way, against governments, fossil fuel
companies and anyone else apparently
determined to drive a wrecking ball through
international climate commitments.
ClientEarth and its partners Friends of the
Earth and the Good Law Project, for example,
took the government to court over its
inaction to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
– which did not meet its own legally binding
targets. They won. The High Court ruled
“Taking governments to court is
against the government’s inadequate net-zero
strategy and ordered a revised climate plan. a significant conservation tool”
MARK CARWARDINE
(Regrettably, its latest plan has still been
deemed insufficient, so the environmentalists
will be going back to court.)
Many other conservation issues are
finding their way to the courtrooms. The Blue
Marine Foundation, for instance, is taking the
government to court for ignoring scientific
advice on fishing quotas. It claims that, by OPINION
setting catch limits too high, the government
is giving the green light to overfishing.
Blue Marine’s challenge will argue that the badgers a year (which would have allowed litigators to argue that a specific action (or,
government is “illegally squandering” a public farmer-led groups to shoot free-roaming sometimes, lack of action) is against the law.
asset and, in the process, breaking its own badgers with rifles). In a judgement handed Ecuador was the first country to recognise
post-Brexit rules. down in October last year, it was ruled that Rights of Nature in its constitution, in 2008,
Wild Justice also uses the legal system the decision to allow the and Bangladesh, New
to fight for the UK’s wildlife. Its successes cull “was so fundamentally “Many countries are Zealand, Colombia and
include (in partnership with the Northern flawed as to be unlawful”. giving nature the others have followed suit.
Ireland Badger Group) taking the Northern The good news for Needless to say, the UK is
Ireland Department for Agriculture, these organisations is that legal right to flourish. not on board. It seems our
Environment and Rural many countries are making It’s a game-changer.” legal system continues to
Affairs to the High environmental lawsuits see nature as inanimate
Court over a proposed easier, by giving nature and treats it as property,
cull of up to 4,000 legal rights. It’s a game-changer. with owners’ rights taking precedent. In my
Currently, while laws governing view, we should be ashamed.
everything from endangered species to Not all environmental litigation is about
Want to comment?
Share your thoughts
clean water are well established around conservation, of course. Some lawsuits seek
on Mark’s column the world, they are often about permitting to impede campaigning, protesting and, in
by sending an email harmful activities, such as hunting or house- particular, direct action. Others challenge
GETTY
to wildlifeletters@ building. This rather archaic approach to regulations or policies (such as those leading
ourmedia.co.uk conservation is being re-evaluated. The idea to greenhouse gas emissions reductions or
is to mirror human rights (which have been other ‘positive’ climate outcomes) that might
long understood and enshrined in law) by reduce short-term profit.
giving wildlife and wild places the legal right But here’s a solution – beat them at their
to exist and flourish. This makes it easier for own game.

WILDLIFE SPECTACLES
The broadcaster, naturalist and tour guide shares the
most breathtaking seasonal events in the world
SHOALING SCALLOPED HAMMERHEADS
Just a snorkel will suffice to

spy these distinctive predators
congregating beneath the waves
ith just over 500 different debated. While undoubtedly giving the
species of shark classified, and sharks extra lift, the cephalofoil may also
a further two dozen waiting help them make sharper turns in the water.
to be formally scientifically The widely spaced eyes allow for effective
named, shark taxonomy is not stereoscopic vision, while the head’s broad
for the faint-hearted. But there shape also houses a sense organ known
is one group that surely everyone would as the ampullae of Lorenzini. Packed with
immediately recognise: the hammerheads. electroreceptors and operating like an
Sporting a wide, flattened head that underwater metal detector, it helps the
MAIN: FRANCO BANFI/NATUREPL.COM; CUTOUT HEAD: ALAMY
is uniquely shaped like a double-headed sharks to detect prey hidden on or just

hammer, it’s not hard to see how these under the sea-floor sediment.
sharks got their name. The eyes and nostrils Of the nine species of hammerhead,
are located at either end of the ‘hammer’ – the ‘scalloped’ can be distinguished by
or cephalofoil, as it’s technically called. the notches along the leading edge of
The explanation behind the shape of its cephalofoil, which produce a distinct
the hammerhead’s head has long been scalloping
effect. The
Did you know? females
tend to be
Scalloped hammerheads
Hammerheads have can be found in tropical
larger than and warm temperate
360º vision in the vertical
plane, able to take in the males – waters around the world
their surroundings both reaching up and
above and below and the species’ bronze-grey
back and white underside

“At the Galápagos,
numbers can reach
into the hundreds or
even thousands”

Mike Dilger’s WILDLIFE SPECTACLES
TOP 1 SOCORRO ISLAND, MEXICO
FIVE
South of Baja California, it’s a hotspot not
just for scalloped hammerheads, but also
yellowfin tuna and giant oceanic manta rays
2 COCOS ISLAND, COSTA RICA
Situated some 36 hours by boat from
the mainland, the waters around Cocos are
designated as a marine national park
PLACES
Where to see
scalloped 4 GALÁPAGOS ISLANDS, ECUADOR
Scalloped hammerheads are best seen
hammerheads around Darwin and Wolf, though they can be
encountered all around the archipelago
5 RANGIROA, FRENCH POLYNESIA

January and February are ideal months
to see dozens of scalloped hammerheads
3 ALPHONSE ATOLL, SEYCHELLES
The tropical waters around these
islands host world-class snorkelling and
hunting stingrays at Tiputa Pass diving, with shoals of hammerheads
help camouflage the shark from prey and water’s surface, this is one marine spectacle LOOK CLOSER
potential predators, both above and below where a mask, fins and snorkel, rather than
in the water column. a full scuba kit, will often suffice. Scalloped Nailing it A mouth full of
pearly whites
Though widespread, hammerheads are not considered a danger Another possible
the scalloped hammerhead is most to either divers or snorkelers, but are function for the hammerhead's
commonly encountered in nonetheless quite skittish and head is to help pin down any
the Hammerhead Triangle, “Scalloped can move surprisingly quickly, slippery prey unearthed
from the seabed. Once
situated between the islands hammerheads so it’s always best to give them secured, the shark’s finely
of Cocos, Malpelo and the space. Anyone who has spent
Galápagos in the eastern are skittish time in the water with this
serrated teeth then act as
knives and forks, allowing the
Pacific. While it can be and can move species will testify that a calm, prey to be either swallowed
relatively easily observed at a
number of sites, particularly
surprisingly careful approach invariably
gets the best results.
whole or dismembered in bite-
sized chunks.
around seamounts (submarine quickly, so give With its fins highly prized
mountains), there are only a them space” as the key ingredient in shark- Watch your mouth
few places where it gathers in fin soup, it’s no surprise that Stingrays are among scalloped
large numbers. As most apex the scalloped hammerhead has hammerheads’ favoured prey, but one
predators operate either as ‘lone wolves’ experienced a dramatic population decline. shark was seen with 96 venomous
or in small cohorts, this is considered This has resulted in the species now being stingray barbs embedded in its mouth
highly unusual behaviour. These groups, or classified as globally Endangered and placed and jaws, suggesting that being
‘shivers’, of sharks tend to consist mostly on Appendix II of CITES (Convention stung must be a hazard.
of females, with the males remaining out in on International Trade in Endangered
deeper waters. Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), meaning Mini marvels
At locations such as the Galápagos, its trade must be controlled. Any sharks Scalloped hammerheads reproduce
numbers can reach into the hundreds or caught are often subjected to the frankly in viviparous fashion, meaning that
even, on occasion, thousands. As the sharks gruesome treatment of ‘finning’, whereby around 12 to 38 embryos are nourished
by a placental link to their mother, not
tend to congregate relatively close to the fins are sliced off and the bodies discarded
HAMMERHEADS: ALAMY AND GETTY; CONDOR: GETTY
unlike a mammal’s umbilical cord. After

overboard. Added to this, the shark is often a gestation period lasting up to 12
the victim of fishing bycatch via trawl-nets, months, the young are then born as fully
purse-seine nets, gill nets and longlines. independent and miniature versions of
However, with hammerheads their parents.
consistently ranking among the world’s
top underwater wildlife attractions, shark
tourism now contributes millions towards
regional economies, thereby presenting a
sustainable alternative to fishing them into
oblivion. Presumably those enjoying this
magnificent spectacle agree that the fins
NEXT MONTH
Mike takes a trip to Peru
Despite their size, scalloped hammerheads look far better on the sharks than they do to witness flying condors
only hunt fish, crustaceans and squid floating in a bowl of soup.

Nick Baker’s HIDDEN WORLD
A hero shrew may
look small on the
outside but it has
The popular naturalist, author and TV presenter inner strength
reveals a secret realm of overlooked wildlife
HERO SHREW
The tiny forest-dwelling mammal

with a super-strength spine
first heard the story of a legendary there is nothing that remarkable about it
animal called the hero shrew (Scutisorex – a dull grey, timid, scuttling creature of the
somereni) some time ago. Apparently, forest floor, certainly nothing heroic.
somewhere in the tropical African Even the first time a Western
forests of northeastern Congo there scientist ‘discovered’ the shrew in 1910,
lived a small mammal that could its uniqueness was overlooked. But the
withstand being stood on by a 70kg human local Mangbetu people from northeastern
for five minutes at a time and remain Congo already knew the hero shrew was
unaffected by the ordeal. special; their warriors would even wear the
Really? It seemed so fanciful and dried corpses or parts of the shrew about
implausible to my enquiring and scientific their person as a talisman of strength and
mind. I mean, why would a small invincibility. It was the Mangbetu that had
insectivorous mammal such as a shrew demonstrated to visitors how the shrew
need to be so osteologically reinforced? could be trodden on without ill effect.
It sounded made up, like something from Still, it wasn’t until years later when
Marvel Comics. It wasn’t until many years a scientist dissected a specimen that
later, sitting around a campfire with an
African mammalogist, that I began to realise
the reason for this phenomenon was
discovered: it had the most unusual
“It could be
there was some truth in these claims.
Most members of the shrew family are
skeleton. Specifically, the lower lumbar
region of the spine.
stood on by a
secretive and unassuming, and the hero
shrew, at least outwardly, looks and behaves
Think of the usual mammal backbone,
comprised of a string of individual
70kg human for
just like most shrews. It is a little larger bones called vertebrae. Each vertebra is five minutes”
and longer furred than you might expect a relatively simple structure with three
(at around 25cm from the tip of its tail to wing-like projections, called processes,
the end of its pointy snout), but otherwise, and a variety of low bumps and lumps that

serve as connections and anchor points for
muscles, cartilage and tendons.
However, whereas the lumbar region
of humans comprises five vertebrae, the
lumbar of the hero shrew has 10 to 11, each
bedecked with so many processes, bumps
and lumps that they look like something
between a Henry Moore sculpture and a
Romanesco broccoli. The result is a spine
that is four times more robust than any
other mammal for its size.
The big question that remains, though,
is what’s it for? There isn’t any particular
predator that the shrew needs to fend off.
It has been hypothesised that it needs to
hold its body off the sodden, seasonally wet
forest floor, but this seems unlikely.
The best explanation, for me, is one of
leverage. The shrew is often found around
the bases of palms, where it forages for
large beetle grubs that live between the leaf
scales and the trunk. For an insectivorous
mammal, each finger-thick grub represents
a seriously valuable meal. So maybe the
reason behind the hero shrew’s superpower
is that it becomes a living crowbar,
jimmying the bases of the palm leaves apart,
even shoving its way under fallen logs and
leaves with a single flexion of its spine to
get to this rich source of food.
Shrews have other superpowers, too. Some

temperate species can shrink their skeletons
and brains to save energy during the winter,
and some shrews, including water shrews, are
one of only three groups of mammals with a
truly venomous bite.
LOOK CLOSER
The basket-
like lumbar
region
Strong connection
massive, thickened, seemingly over-
engineered jigsaw of a spine. Each of its
lower lumbar vertebrae is equipped with
many processes, and each of those has
accessory ‘T-bar’ teeth that project from
the end and interlock with neighbouring
vertebrae. The lumbar region alone
accounts for more than four per cent of
the animal’s total bodyweight.

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WOLVES O
An illustration from
Aesop’s tale The Wolf Wolves have a long
and the Lamb, which
casts the canid as an and fascinating
unjust tyrant
history in Britain,
and welcoming
them back home
could help heal
our landscape
Words by BY DEREK GOW
O
ur relationship with
the wolf in ancient times
was not always difficult.
The Venerable Bede
(673-735), an Anglo-Saxon
monk and scholar, was the first to write
about wolves in Britain. In a description
of ‘Anderida’, or Ashdown Forest in
Sussex, he observed its landscape to be
“All but inaccessible and the resort of
large herds of deer and of wolves”.
When Aelfric, the Abbot of Eynsham,
wrote his colloquy more than a millennia
ago, he too was relaxed in advising that it
was ever the shepherd’s lot to “drive […]
sheep to their pasture, and in the heat
and in cold, stand over them with dogs,
lest wolves devour them”.
Though there are no references to
wolf hunting in Anglo-Saxon documents,
when William the Conqueror defeated
Harold at the Battle of Hastings in 1066,
his triumph brought a new order to the
country and hunting was elevated to the
most noble of recreations. Wolves as
adversaries, were, along with wild boar
and deer, protected by the ‘forest laws’
for the pleasure of royals and aristocracy.
Designed by the Normans to reportedly
WOLF ILLUSTRATION: ALAMY
“leave the English nothing but their

eyes to weep with”, this decree forbade
anything to be taken from the forest,
from firewood to fruit. Any person who
merely disturbed a deer might find even
their weeping days were over, as blinding
was deemed a suitable punishment.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Derek Gow is a renowned
conservationist. His new
book, Hunt for the Shadow
Wolf, is available now
(Chelsea Green, £20).

O WOLVES
The terror of the

flock is conveyed by
Samuel John Carter’s
1867 engraving
While the Romans may have been

the first to export the white wool of their “Like the wind-bown blossom from
hornless sheep from Britain, by the mid-
1400s these animals had become the most
important of assets. Wool paid for churches,
a wild fruit tree, wolf place-names
castles, wars and treasure chests. The early
medieval churchmen toiled to maintain the
strew the sediments of our land”
flow produced from their bleating hordes.
Wolves were “devilish” and “cruel” when
they “scattered the good shepherd’s flocks” poisoning wolves was good. In the end, Welsh, Breton, Cornish, Gaelic and English,
and as a result, every form of persuasion we destroyed their age-old sanctuaries, their power to evoke remains strong. On the
to ensure their persecution was preached. dismissed them in fables and told tales of west coast of Scotland, Lochan a’ Mhadaich
Remissions from sin or criminal activities our great courage and their cowardice. It’s Riabhaich (the loch of the brindled wolf)
could be obtained on presentation of severed how victors forever frame those they defeat. lies like a sapphire, twinkling in the summer
heads or tongues. It was all so obvious once But it’s not the truth. glory of the Ardnamurchan peninsula. Do
I
you understood that the neat, ordered, its waters recall the dappled wolf drinking?
farmed lands where the ripening fruits of n Britain, despite our worst Had it paused to look down and consider its
finance flourished were righteous, while the doings, their memory still lingers. reflection, as animals often do, it could never
wastes, wetlands and woods inhabited by More than the legacy of any other have known the future impossibility of a wolf
wolves were demonically disordered. native creature, like the wind-blown looking back.
This twaddle, when babbled from every blossom from a wild fruit tree, wolf In 1596, the cartographer Timothy Pont
pulpit, ensured that people believed that place-names strew the sediments of our land observed that, in the extreme wilderness of
stabbing, beating, flaying, burning and (see box, p44). In old Norse and Saxon, in Strathnaver, in the north-west of the historic

WOLVES O
A wolf carries a lamb

away in an early 16th
century woodcut
EDGAR THE PEACEFUL: ALAMY

Edgar the Peaceful
was more of a
warmonger when
it came to wolves
King of the wolves

In 937, the first King of England, Athelstan, defeated an invasion force of Scots, Welsh and
Danes at the Battle of Brunanburh. The defeated Welsh kings agreed to pay a monetary
tribute in recompense to the English. When Athelstan’s nephew, Edgar, became king in 959,
he instructed that gold and silver be replaced with a new tribute of 300 wolf skins. Though this
attempt to rid England of wolves failed, his effort to do so is acknowledged to this day on the
west face of Lichfield Cathedral, where his statue bestrides a wolf’s head.
Scottish county of Sutherland, there were the knee of his white breeches a pale Kerry
“many woolfs” and went on to note that foxhound rests its head. Posed with one leg
the landscape there “never lack[ed] wolves forward while the other is drawn back, both
more than are expedient”. In 1630, Sir Robert of his feet are planted firmly on the skin of a
ENGRAVING: GETTY; WOODCUT: ALAMY; TREATISE: BRIDGEMAN IMAGES
Gordon of Gordonstoun affirmed that there dark wolf lying prostrate on the floor.
T
was still good hunting in Sutherland as its
forests and chases contained an abundance hough the English
of deer, wolves and other fauna. Evidence Channel, like a citadel’s moat,
from elsewhere infers that at least a few forbids the natural return of
lords preserved wolves in dwindling numbers the wolf to Britain, elsewhere
for a time to prolong their own personal in Europe their recovery over
pleasures of pursuit. the course of recent decades has been truly
It is likely that they lingered longest astounding. A real conservation success.
in Ireland. In 1786, a wolf that had been Following strict protection under the terms
killing sheep was brought to bay by the of the Bern Convention in 1979, wolves
“coarse, powerful hounds” of John Watson moved steadily year on year westwards from
of Ballydarton in County Carlow. Rather a the east. Nowadays, perhaps 17,000 roam
fine oil painting of the old man exists in the the landscapes of Belgium, Luxembourg,
archive of the Royal Dublin Society. In the Holland, Denmark, Germany and France, in
stark surrounds of his flagstone kitchen, lands from which they were harried less than
he sits firm-faced in a red hunting coat at a lifetime ago.
A 13th century Latin treatise on virtuous living a table. His black polished boots have a Maybe that number itself is wolfishly
depicts a wolf with a bloodied ram in its maw turned-down rim of soft tan leather and on elusive and there are nearly 2,000 more, but

OWOLVES
The sign for the
Suffolk village
Wolf’s in a name
Wolfish names bless our land. An OS map from
1878 reveals ‘cottes’ – enclosures that protect
sheep from wolves – on Wolfscote Dale in
Staffordshire. Wooldale, Woolpit, Wooladen
and Woolwell are associated with sheep, yet
these names have morphed from their original
names of Wolfdale, Wolf Pit, Wolfaden and
Wolfwell. Meanwhile, Wolfhole, Wolfcleugh,
Wolf River and Wolf Kielder bear obvious
connection. Other references can be seen in
such places as Howl Moor and Howl Common,
SIGN: ALAMY
with references to past cubbing den sites at Two hounds scrap over
Whelpdale, Whelphill and Whelpo. a dead wolf in this grisly
English hunting scene
“One study indicated that up to 18,857km2 of the Scottish

Highlands is already suitable for 50-94 wolf packs”
whatever the total, the return of the wolf has in Switzerland (where the protection that The 20th century American naturalist
been widely welcomed by societies whose enabled their return was ratified more Aldo Leopold, who was an early advocate of
outlooks and lifestyles have, in large part, than 40 years ago), despite any scientific, the need to restore wolves to Yellowstone
changed beyond all recognition. evidence-based or credible economic National Park, understood their pivotal
H
rationale, politicians bowed to farmers and role. His moment of revelation came when
appy endings are, approved a cull to reduce the estimated 32 he approached a wolf he had shot whilst
however, hard to come by. packs in its territory to just 12. working as a predator control officer for the
When a wolf killed a pony The sweeping cull, which was designed government at an early stage in his career.
called Dolly belonging to to culminate in some packs being entirely “We reached the old wolf in time to
European Commission extinguished while others merely sacrificed watch a fierce green fire dying in her eyes,”
president Ursula von der Leyen in September their cubs, began on the 1st December 2023. he wrote in his 1949 book, A Sand County
WOLF ILLUSTRATIONS: BRIDGEMAN IMAGES
2022, old opponents pounced out of the By mid-December, long-standing Swiss Almanac. “I realised then, and have known
darkness to stand on their hindlegs, twinkle environmental organisation Pro Natura, ever since, that there was something new to
and strut to the familiar refrain that wolves along with WWF, BirdLife Switzerland and me in those eyes – something known only
were bad for farming business. the Swiss Wolf Group, lodged a court appeal to her and to the mountain. I was young
On the 4th September 2023, von der arguing that the cull threshold went far then, and full of trigger-itch; I thought that
Leyen fronted their chorus in vaudeville style beyond what was permitted under Swiss law because fewer wolves meant more deer, that
by urging local and national authorities to and was “very unscientific and politically no wolves would mean hunters’ paradise.”
take action within existing derogations from motivated”. It was consequently suspended But, he concludes, “Such a mountain looks
wildlife protection laws that allow individual and packs such as the splendidly named as if someone had given God a new pruning
wolves to be killed when they become a Jatzhorn, Stagias and Hauts-Fort gained shears, and forbidden Him all other exercise
danger to livestock or humans. Soon after, a reprieve. [...] I now suspect that just as a deer herd

WOLVES O
Eurasian wolves
can live in a variety
of habitats
stone walls erected by every culture to indicated that between 10,139km² and
The frontispiece from
contain their bleating hordes have often 18,857km² of the Scottish Highlands is
the 1859 novel The
British Wolf Hunters fallen into disrepair, and as a result the already suitable for between 50-94 packs.
animals roam free. It’s the cultural fear that will be hard to
Once you understand the nature of overcome. Yet slowly, the wolf’s appeal is
this impact, it is overwhelming. Fewer tree rising. Wolf-watching tours are now available
lives in mortal fear of its wolves, so does a seedlings, fewer shrubs, fewer grasses, fewer in Spain, France, Italy and Germany. One
mountain live in mortal fear of its deer.” mosses, fewer bogs. And so, like a falling day soon, when farm subsidies finish, other
I
comet, the numbers of creatures that rely on income streams will need to be sought by
f you want an illustration of these plants and habitats hurtle to oblivion. land owners.
B
what a wolf-less landscape looks like A growing community that understands
WOLF: LASSI RAUTIAINEN/NATUREPL.COM
in a near-to-home sense, just take a that Britain is one of the most nature- ut for those that want
walk in the British countryside. In impoverished nations on the planet wants to reintroduce the wolf to
our woodlands and plantations of action. Films, documentaries, research Britain, there won’t be any
conifers in dark rigid lines, ever-rising herds articles and sympathetic media reports have cavalry coming. No force of
of Asiatic or Mediterranean deer combine in recent years presented a well-reasoned worth to do good. The nature
with our own native red and roe to pluck case for wolf restoration. Forest life would conservation bodies of standing will probably
bare the seedings and flowers of the forest be regenerated if deer declined, and pastures hum and haw, while the government’s own
floor. Elsewhere, in things called fields, would become more wildlife-friendly very wildlife advisory bodies will barely twitch in
impounded by structures such as fences or swiftly if sheep were removed or reduced. response. Other views must be fostered in
hedges, sheep in their myriad millions shear In terms of habitat and prey availability, the knowledge that a new vision is both vital
the land bare. On our mountains, the old wolf reintroduction is feasible. One study and right.

PORTFOLIO
This large island in the Malay

archipelago is renowned for its wild
riches, yet still holds many secrets
Photos by CHIEN C LEE
Rainforest riches
Owing to its rugged, inaccessible
terrain, much of Borneo’s forested
interior has yet to be fully explored.
Rainforests around the world are
renowned for biodiversity, but those
on Borneo are exceptional: a single
50-hectare plot can house nearly
1,200 species of tree. “I have been
exploring Borneo for nearly 30 years,
and pretty much every trip turns up
biological novelties,” says Chien.

Light show
A female firefly slowly ascends a
twig, her tail-tip flashing to attract
the winged males. Chien captured
the undulating pattern of her light
trail using a 26-second exposure.
As beetles, fireflies usually undergo
complete metamorphosis, but females
of this genus (Lamprigera) retain their
larval form.
ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHER

Chien C Lee grew up in north
California and completed
a degree in ecology.
He moved to Sarawak,
Borneo, in 1996,
where he works as
a photographer and
guide. See more
of his work at
chienclee.com.

PORTFOLIO
A frog that flies

Borneo is home to more species of
gliding animal than anywhere else
on Earth. One of the most famous is
Wallace's flying frog, named after the
famous naturalist. It glides using its huge
webbed feet, which enable it to control
its descent and even steer in mid-air.
The rafflesia ruse

An insect’s-eye view of the interior of
a gigantic rafflesia flower. Rafflesia is a
parasite, producing no leaves, stems or
roots of its own and relying instead on a
host vine. The plant famously mimics the
colour and scent of decaying animals,
enticing fly prey that act as pollinators,
and its flowers open for just a few days
each year.

PORTFOLIO
Flying colours
The spectacular Whitehead's trogon inhabits
the cool montane cloudforests of northern
Borneo. Of the six trogon species found on
the island, this is the only endemic.
Trogons usually perch quietly, slowly turning
their heads to search for insects hidden
among the foliage. Some feed almost
exclusively on stick insects, which are very
well camouflaged – testament to the keen
eyesight of these birds.

Signs of sting
The vivid hues of the slug moth
caterpillar are a glaring warning of
those venom-filled spines. This moth
family (Limacodidae) is abundant
in Borneo, with nearly 100 species
recorded. Almost all are equipped with
a similar stinging defence.
Leech love
With its gaudy stripes, the tiger leech,
here in the throes of mating, is one
of Borneo’s most colourful forest
leeches. While other species tend to
stay on the forest floor, tigers often
climb low vegetation and extend
themselves from the tips of leaves
for easier access to passing animals.
“Encounters are inevitable,” says
Chien, “but, since abundant leeches
can reflect abundant wildlife, it’s a
good thing!”

PORTFOLIO
Pretty as a pitcher
Like other pitcher plants, Nepenthes
ampullaria is a carnivore, feeding
on insects. But this species has an
additional tactic to help meet its
nitrogen needs: by keeping its pitcher
open, it captures falling leaf litter and
plant detritus, relying on bacterial
activity to break down its prey.
Jewel of the forest

The Bornean peacock-pheasant
is scarce and extremely shy. Only
the males possess the resplendent
plumage, used in courtship. The
species is listed as Endangered and its
range has likely reduced as a result of
habitat disturbance and hunting.

PORTFOLIO
Side by side
A least pygmy squirrel (one of the
smallest squirrels in the world, weighing
less than 20g) shares a space with a
great flying dragon (Borneo's largest
gliding lizard, with a bodylength of up to
14cm). Both species feed on the trunks
of rainforest trees: the lizard preys on
ants and insects, the squirrel feeds
on bark. Neither pose a danger to the
other, but here, the lizard has extended
its dewlap and partially opened its
wings to appear larger, presumably to
thwart any altercation.
Forest fairy
Lacking leaves and chlorophyll and
unable to photosynthesise, the
dainty fairy lantern is nourished by
subterranean fungi (mycoheterotrophy).
Only visible when in flower, the species
was discovered by Italian botanist
Odoardo Beccarii in 1866, but remained
unseen until 2018.
Here comes the sun

Borneo has the tallest tropical rainforest
canopy in the world, often exceeding
80m in height. As little as five per cent of
sunlight reaches the forest floor.

PORTFOLIO
Dinner deal
Wild durians produce copious
amounts of mango-scented nectar
and open for business at dusk.
Cave-nectar bats travel far from
their roosts to feed on this sweet
offering, providing a pollination
service in return.
Glow up
Borneo is home to many species of
bioluminescent fungi, but the luminous
porecap produces the largest clusters
of mushrooms. Bioluminescence is
thought to help with spore dispersal in
the still air of the understory. The light
attracts wood-feeding insects, which
carry the spores to new locations.
Civet on show
The Malay civet may be one of
Borneo's more common carnivores,
but it is shy and nocturnal, and thus
difficult to see. Unlike most other
civets, it forages on the ground rather
than in trees, so Chien positioned a
camera-trap on a known pathway and
captured this portrait.

Wildlife hospitals
near Vancouver are
seeing a huge influx
of patients due to
climate change, but
staff and volunteers
remain determined
to work miracles
Words by ROBERTA STALEY
Photos by TALLULAH

Fledglings, such as this
house sparrow, are
particularly vulnerable
to unseasonal weather

Pet cages are often used
to transport injured and
orphaned birds
Staff and volunteers

assess a rescued
bird at the WRA
A merlin falcon
about to undergo
treatment
nside aviary one,

a roughhewn wooden
building full of covered cages, a small speaker
emits an array of bird calls, from the lyrical trilling
of songbirds to the strident squawks of jays. The
piped-in chirps, cheeps and clacks are a critical
part of helping prepare abandoned infant birds for
release into the wild. The youngsters include two
Steller’s jays, covered in winsome fledgling frizz.
WILDLIFE HOSPITAL O
Co-executive director of
the WRA Linda Bakker
feeds a four-week-old
European starling
The siblings were rescued 20 days ago by

a motorist. Unseasonably ferocious spring “The facility, created in 1979, is at the
rainstorms had gripped British Columbia’s
Pacific coastal region, and the two-day-old
fledglings were blown onto the tarmac, along
receiving end of everything that can
with their nest. They were rushed to the
Wildlife Rescue Association (WRA) of British
go wrong for wild animals”
Columbia, where volunteers and staff sprang
into action to keep the tiny creatures alive.
A nest of blankets with a heater underneath the tiny birds in a light cotton sack to and fluorescent blue of adulthood, they’ll
kept them warm, while their meals were a reduce exposure to humans (and prevent be transferred to flying cages to strengthen
ground-up slurry of insects and mealworms, habituation). One method of determining their wings. They’ll also be taught foraging
administered via syringe every 15 minutes weight gain is examining the pectoral muscle, skills, with mealworms and insects hidden
over a 12-hour period, mimicking the natural or keel, through the sack. “It shouldn’t be just below the surface of the dirt floor.
feeding cycle. jutting out; it should be nice and round,” Schooling them in bird communication is
The chicks survived, thanks to vigilant says Linda Bakker, co-executive director of one thing “we can’t teach them” – hence the
care that included daily health and the WRA. piped-in stereo recordings, says Bakker.
A
weight checks, with the handlers placing It was a miracle that the Steller’s jays
t three weeks of age, the lived – one of thousands performed every
jays still can’t fly. They are year at the WRA. The facility, created in 1979,
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
housed together in a cage is at the receiving end of everything that can
Roberta Staley is an award-winning,
that, inside, is reminiscent of go wrong for wild animals: broken bones
Vancouver-based writer, editor
and documentary film-maker. a miniature jungle gym, with and feathers; concussion from flying into
Her article on human-elephant branches for hopping on and food placed at windows; injuries from traffic accidents and
conflict featured in the January different levels to encourage self-feeding. cat attacks; electrocution from powerlines;
2023 issue. robertastaley.com. As soon as they moult into the glossy black lead poisoning from bullets and fishing

OWILDLIFE HOSPITAL
WRA volunteer
Nel Aird sterilises
bird paraphernalia
A tiny, two-week-old
European starling is
rehydrated with saline
tackle; malnutrition; and exhaustion from

migration. But in the past few years, the 300 “Temperatures plunged to -200C
volunteers and two dozen staff have found
themselves under increasing pressure, as
human-caused climate change has boosted
and 62 hypothermic hummingbirds
the number of patients. were brought in for emergency care”
W
eather extremes,
such as blistering
heat domes, biblical soared above 40˚C, rising in places to During another deep freeze in December,
flooding, hurricane- just below 50˚C, killing farm animals and 2022. the WRA took in 88 injured thrushes
force winds and bitter more than 600 people across the province. that, confused by snow reflections in glass,
cold and snow, are making rehabilitation Gasping fledglings flung themselves out flew into windows. Hummingbird feeders
efforts increasingly Sisyphean and complex. of nests in a desperate bid for survival. froze, and people brought half-dead birds in
“Normally our intake is 20 to 30 birds a day,” (Scientists estimate the heat dome will be for care. Red-breasted sapsuckers became
says Bakker. “With a heat dome we’ll take in a 5-10 year event due to climate change.) beacons for predators — including domestic
20 to 30 more.” In May 2023, the temperate Then, five months later, ‘atmospheric cats and dogs — sticking out like traffic
rainforest of Metro Vancouver, which rivers’ – vast streams of moisture in the lights against snow that normally would have
normally sees summer averages of 20˚C, atmosphere – pummelled BC, flooding a quickly melted.
experienced a heat dome, with temperatures 150km2 expanse of farmland and wilderness. With such climate extremes, the WRA’s
climbing to 33˚C over a three-day period. That was followed by snow in December that annual intake has risen to 6,000 patients
“We had 160 new intakes,” says Mac Pearsall, broke temperature records dating back to a year, up from about 5,000 five years ago.
WRA’s assistant hospital manager, who the 1800s. Temperatures plunged to -20˚C This represents 150 species, all with unique
helped triage the birds. with wind-chill factor, far below the 5˚C care and needs. Waterbirds, for example,
Two years earlier, the weather extremes average, and 62 hummingbirds, hypothermic require pools, and many of the facility’s 20
were cataclysmic. The region saw hurricane- and hypoglycemic, were brought in for outbuildings have tubs of various sizes to
force winds and, in June, temperatures emergency care. allow convalescing patients to swim and

CLIMATE IN FOCUS
Seabirds struggling
with warmer waters
Since 1970, the North American bird
population has declined by 30 per cent
due to loss of habitat, lack of food and
pollution, according to a 2019 study by
the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Climate
change is exacerbating this trend and it is
particularly evident in marine areas.
“Seabirds along the Pacific coast
are canaries in the coal mine when it
comes to assessing the effects of climate
change,” says JD Bergeron, CEO of
International Bird Rescue.
In the past three decades, marine
heatwaves have increased by more
than 50 per cent. Fish swim deeper to
Faces are obscured to avoid heated waters and some seabirds
ensure these American will starve if unable to reach them.
crows don’t become Consequently, the Nazca booby, which
habituated to humans normally lives in tropical areas like Central
America, has been showing up in places
like California.
The keel of a
Steller’s jay is
examined
dive. Hummingbird fledglings require a

fancier feeding system: they dine on a sugar
solution administered via a syringe adorned
with a plastic flower, teaching them that
flowers are a food source. All told, it costs
$260 to rescue and rehabilitate each bird,
with yearly operating costs now at $2 million
– 80 per cent of that coming from public
donations, says Bakker.
Winters have become especially
capricious here, due to more extreme El
Niño and La Niña climate patterns in the exclusively for bats, which, as vectors for says Rob Hope, raptor care manager.
Pacific Ocean. Apart from the cold snaps, disease, must receive special handling by “We were working 10 hours a day for
the season has generally warmed, causing workers wearing PPE. three days straight.”
A
species such as mallards to nest earlier than Merlin falcons, small raptors with
normal, hatching broods in mid-March rather bout 45 minutes south of hypnotic obsidian eyes, mottled chests and
than the end of April. “They are being born WRA is OWL (Orphaned dark backs, nest later than other raptors
at a time when there’s not an optimum food Wildlife) Rehabilitation such as eagles. When the heat dome
source,” says Bakker, eyeing a huddle of two- Society, a two-hectare struck, the merlin fledglings, unable to fly,
day-old mallard ducklings under a heat lamp. facility specialising in raptor flung themselves out of their nests “like
The babies had been found alone close to a rehabilitation. OWL, which opened in 1984, kamikazes,” says Hope. They were found
busy road; their mother was likely hit by a initially took care of about 100 birds a year. struggling on the ground, some badly injured
car while leading them to a nearby lake. This number rose to about 800 birds a year from falls of 20m, starving and severely
Other animals, such as bats, also suffer until 2021 – the year of the climate-change dehydrated. To save them, the fledglings
from heat exhaustion and dehydration. The trifecta of heat, flood and freeze – when 1,075 were given food – fresh chunks of mouse
WRA specialises in caring for these small raptors were brought in. “During the heat – soaked in lactated Ringer’s solution,
mammals, erecting an isolation building dome, we got 25 merlin falcons in one day,” which is sterile fluid with electrolytes used

OWILDLIFE HOSPITAL
CLIMATE IN FOCUS
An x-ray machine
at OWL helps staff
Eagles seeking decide on treatment
alternative foods
The Pacific Coast’s 20,000 bald eagles
have a problem. They eat the carcasses
of salmon that have died after spawning,
but this natural food source has dwindled,
partly due to warmer waters and flooding
caused by climate change.
Karen Steensma from Trinity Western
University says that salmon recovery
efforts have not kept pace with the needs
of the eagles. As a result, the birds have
moved inland to scavenge composting
cow placentas and calf carcasses on
dairy farms. (On average, dairy cows have
a five per cent calf mortality rate.)
It is vital that farmers nurture wild,
tree-filled borders around their fields and
along waterways to reinvigorate habitat
for salmon and create perches for eagles.
Such ‘corridors’ also provide cool, safe
places for the two species during the
increasing extreme weather events.
Raptors may have

broken wings, legs,
pelvises and beaks
in hospitals for humans. “We kept the air- 41-year-old male great horned owl rescued
The Donnie Creek
conditioning in the ICU running 24 hours a decades ago, whom she lovingly feeds dead
wildfire was the
largest ever in BC day,” Hope says. Still, “many didn’t make it”. mice when not raising fledglings.
Fourteen bald eagle youngsters were also A variety of native raptors that have
brought in, suffering from dehydration and been too severely injured to be returned
hunger. They fared better than the merlin to the wild – missing parts of their wings,
falcons, as the fledglings were older. beaks or talons, or blinded by accident or
O
Wildfires are the disease – are kept in huge outdoor cages
ther victims of the heat with grass, logs, pools and tree limbs and
death knell for birds dome were fledgling barn ramps that allow disabled birds to hop to
In June 2023, when many birds were owls, which build nests in different elevations. When any of the birds
raising broods, wildfires swept the boreal boxes and on beams in dairy need medical care, they are taken to the
forests of Canada. Nearly 6,000km2 of and poultry barns. These main building, which has a small office space
land was incinerated.
structures heated up like ovens. Once the overseen by Sarah the barn owl, who sits like
For vet Mira Ziolo, the fires are the
death knell for birds such as siskins,
mercury reaches 41˚C, birds can no longer Buddha on a perch. The building also houses
warblers, owls, grouse, woodpeckers, regulate their body temperature. The deadly isolation rooms and maternity wards, which
ptarmigans and the endangered heat affected not only wildlife but the are kept sterilized by a raft of volunteers.
whooping crane. An entire generation agricultural sector, with 650,000 animals – There is a kitchen with a fridge containing
can be wiped out, and “even if they can mostly poultry – perishing. a big bowl of dead mice for mealtimes, and
fly away, they’re flying into other species’ Injured and sick fledgling owls that are dead quail for the bigger raptors. Lastly,
territory and, in their weakened state, brought into the raptor facility have a shot at there’s the ICU and small surgical room
won’t survive the competition,” she says.
life thanks in large part to Casper, a female where broken bones are splinted and flight
Fires also affect future generations, as
great horned owl. Casper, 28, has fostered feathers replaced, or where steroids and
WILDFIRE: ALAMY
the forests they rely upon take decades to

regrow, while inhaling smoke can reduce 1,300 infants since arriving at OWL as a antibiotics are administered.
their oxygen-carrying capacity, leading to young bird, too badly injured to be returned Today, a five-week-old great horned owl
exhaustion and infection. to the wild. Her nurturing instincts extend is undergoing treatment after being found
to her elderly buddy Blinky, a blind and deaf on the ground with a broken flight feather.

OWL volunteer
Colin Iverson holds
an injured bald eagle
still while it receives
veterinary care
“Fourteen bald eagle youngsters were brought in,

suffering from dehydration and hunger”
Secured on its back on the surgical table, the causing death. Aspergillosis also affects
youngster clacks its beak indignantly, glaring adult birds, with the afflicted panting open-
with bright yellow orbs at its handlers. Hope mouthed and fatiguing easily. The treatment
works as swiftly as he can. “Stress will kill available is long-term hospitalisation with
these birds quicker than anything,” he says, antifungal therapy.
T
treating the injury using medical-grade skin
glue. OWL will keep the youngster until he he volunteers and staff
is ready to fly again, eventually returning at WRA and OWL pull off
him to the same area he was found. After miracles every day, healing
treatment, Hope feeds him chunks of fresh the sick and broken, but
mouse with a tweezer while volunteer their power ends there. They
Glenda Latto holds the bird firmly. “Now cannot do what truly needs doing: stop
we’re cooking,” Hope says cheerfully, as the climate change. Inevitably, it will worsen,
owl, seemingly chortling with pleasure, gulps adding to the number of sick, traumatised
down the meal. and injured birds that come through their
Hope says OWL is increasingly doors. While Bakker takes joy in small
treating the climate change-linked disease triumphs, such as the Steller’s jays being
aspergillosis, which strikes mainly bald released into the wild, healthy, glossy and
eagles, which lay their eggs in February. feisty, she knows there are many challenges
A beautiful rescued merlin falcon scales Warmer, wetter winters increase fungal down the road. “The balance has tipped;
the walls of its enclosure at OWL growth in nests. Eaglets inhale the spores, there’s no way back.”

OTEN WOMEN
Jane Goodall left

England for Tanzania
when she was just
26 years old
How 10 female
conservationists
have changed
our relationship
with nature
By AMY MAY HOLT

INTERNATIONAL
WOMEN’S DAY
8TH MARCH Chimpanzees
were the focus of
Jane’s research
Jane Goodall
B
ritish primatologist
and conservationist
Jane Goodall is renowned
for her groundbreaking
discoveries that redefined the
relationship between humans and animals.
Despite having no university degree when
she started (she went on to earn a PhD
in animal behaviour), no formal scientific
training, and at a time when primatology was
almost entirely a male-dominated field, Jane
opened the doors for women in science.
In 1960, Jane arrived in Gombe Stream
National Park in Tanzania where she
discovered chimpanzees make and use
tools. Jane observed the chimpanzees using
blades of grass or twigs to ‘fish’ for termites.
Before this, scientists believed that humans
were the only species able to make and use
tools. Jane has often been criticised for
her unorthodox approach to field research.
Instead of observing the chimpanzees
from a distance, she immersed herself in
their habitat. Here, she witnessed other
humanlike behaviours, such as hugging,
and personalities in the chimpanzees. Jane
spent many decades discovering the unique
characters of each chimpanzee, and she even
gave each chimp at Gombe a name.
In 1977, she founded the Jane Goodall
Institute, which continues the Gombe
research to this day, making it the longest
running wild chimpanzee study in the world.
In 1991, she created the global Roots and
JANE GOODALL: GETTY; CHIMPANZEE: ALAMY
Shoots programme, which inspires tens of

thousands of young people from around
the world to make a difference in their
local community by turning their ideas into
conservation actions.
Now, Jane travels internationally raising
awareness about chimpanzees and inspiring
millions with her message of hope through
action. During her roadshows, she shares
her reasons for hope and how everyday
individual actions can bring about larger,
global changes. She will turn 90 on 3rd April.

The daughter of
wealthy parents,
Florence grew up
on the family’s estate
Leela
Hazzah
E
gyptian Leela Hazzah
has devoted her life to
lion conservation in East
Africa. Human-wildlife
conflict is an increasing
problem as we continue to enroach on
nature, and the biologist’s focus has
been the complex relationship between
lions and the Maasai people in Kenya.
Leela proved that humans and
lions can live in harmony when she
FLORENCE MERRIAM BAILEY: ALAMY, WARBLER SKETCH: ALAMY
Florence co-founded the conservation project

Lion Guardians in 2006. Instead
of killing lions, Maasai warriors
Merriam have become protectors of both
their communities and the lions.
Bailey They monitor lion movement, warn

pastoralists of lions, recover lost
A
livestock, and intervene to stop lion
t a time when birds hunting parties. The efforts of Leela
were killed to be studied, and the Lion Guardians have led to
North America’s many warblers feature
Florence Merriam Bailey the tripling of the lion population in
in one of the ornithologist’s handbooks
re-envisioned ornithology. Kenya’s Amboseli region. It is one of
In her book, Birds Through an the few places in Africa where lion
Opera Glass, the American ornithologist and Florence’s activism began while populations are increasing.
nature writer suggested the best way to view attending Smith College in Massachusetts, In 2015, Leela went on to establish
birds was in their natural habitat through the where she led birdwatching tours to the Pride Lion Conservation Alliance,
lenses of opera glasses (binoculars), rather discourage women from buying hats with along with five other women. They
than the sight of a shotgun, and so helped feathers, and in 1900, at a time when women have more than 100 years of collective
form the basis of modern birdwatching. didn’t even have the right to vote in the experience, and are combining
USA, she helped pass the Lacey Act, which knowledge and resources to save more
prohibits the trade of wild animals that have lions across Africa.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
been illegally hunted. Her work with women doesn’t
Amy May Holt is a writer on a Over the course of her life, Florence end there. The world of conservation
mission to change people’s
attained many firsts, notably becoming is dominated by men with too few
perspective of nature. She
aims to engage, educate and the first female fellow of the American female African role models, so
inspire the public to care Ornithologists’ Union in 1929. She paved the Leela co-founded Women for the
about complex conservation way for women ornithologists and made a Environment Africa to ensure the
issues. See natureishome.co.uk. male-dominated field accessible to everyone. current narrative can be changed.

TEN WOMEN O
Leela works hand

in hand with the
Maasai people to
stop lion killings
LEELA HAZZAH: PHILIP J. BRIGGS

Marina Silva
B
Born in the razilian environmentalist
Amazon, Marina Marina Silva has dedicated her
(inset) started life life to fighting deforestation in
as a rubber tapper
the Amazon rainforest. Despite
being illiterate until the age
of 16, she went on to earn a university degree
and eventually became Brazil’s Minister of the
Environment from 2003 to 2008.
During this time, Marina helped establish
the largest international effort to preserve the
rainforest, the Amazon Fund. The initiative
receives payments from foreign governments
and companies to spend on actions that
will reduce deforestation. Marina’s actions
were crucial for the 70 per cent reduction in
deforestation from 2004 to 2012.
As of 2023, Marina Silva is the new Minister
of the Environment and Climate Change. She
remains fierce in her fight against deforestation
in the Amazon rainforest. In August 2023, after
only eight months back in office, deforestation
MARINA SILVA: GETTY, AMAZON: ALAMY

fell by 66 per cent to its lowest level for that
month since 2018. To deter illegal logging, she
announced penalties for illegal deforestation
and the use of satellite technology for
surveillance.
Marina continues to advocate for
the protection of the Amazon and stated
during a televised address to the Brazilian
population: “we respect nature and make it our
ally, or we jeopardise our own future.”
Wangari Maathai
W
hen deforestation 1960s, she got the opportunity to study
in Kenya caused biological sciences in the USA through
landslides, frequent a scholarship programme, and she later
droughts, soil erosion became the first woman from East and
and the loss of vital Central Africa to earn a doctoral degree.
resources for communities, Wangari Maathai After many years fighting for democratic
understood there was a connection between rights, Wangari was elected as a member
environmental degradation and poverty. of the Kenyan parliament, winning 95 per
In response, the environment activist cent of the votes. She represented her
created the Green Belt Movement in 1977, constituency in Tetu from 2002 to 2007,
initially to help rural Kenyan women to plant and also served as Assistant Minister for
trees. By doing so, the women were able to Environment and Natural Resources between
bind the soil, store rainwater, increase their 2003 and 2005.
food supply and grow their own firewood. As Wangari continued to be an advocate
Through the simple act of planting trees, for the environment and women’s rights, she
the grassroots organisation empowers faced multiple arrests and threats. Former
communities to improve their livelihoods Kenyan President Daniel Moi said she was
and protect the enviroment. Now, the Green “a mad woman who was a serious threat
Belt Movement has led to 11 billion trees to the stability of the country”. Even her
WANGARI MAATHAI: GETTY
being planted worldwide, and trained more husband described her as “too educated, too
than 30,000 women in conservation trades strong-minded, and too successful”.
that help them earn an income. Wangari’s efforts did not go unnoticed
It was rare for girls in Kenya to go to though. In 2004, she became the first Wangari passed
school in the 1940s but in spite of this, female African to win the Noble Peace Prize. away in 2011 after
Wangari started school when she was eight Wangari is a truly inspiring example of how a remarkable life
and went on to excel in her studies. In the grassroots activism can make a real impact.

TEN WOMEN O
The naturalist
was also known
as Mardy
Margaret
Murie
K
nown as the grandmother
of the conservation
movement, Margaret
Murie grew up in Alaska,
where she developed a
love for the natural world. She later spent
her honeymoon on a 800km research trip
through the Alaskan wilderness with her new
husband, naturalist Olaus Murie. This was
the start of many nature adventures through
Alaska and Wyoming, and in 1960, she
The legendary
helped establish the Arctic National Wildlife
Sylvia in her
‘happy place’ Refuge in Alaska – the largest in the USA.
Margaret’s legacy stretches beyond
Alaska, though. She was instrumental in
founding the landmark Wilderness Act,
Sylvia Earle which at first protected nearly 37,oookm² of

federal land from human exploitation, and
A
now protects more than 450,000km². The
merican oceanographer scientist to descend 30m in a submersible Murie Ranch in rural Wyoming became a
and marine biologist vehicle. She holds the world record for base for much of the couple’s campaigning
Sylvia Earle is the queen the deepest untethered dive. She was the work with the Wilderness Society, and
of the deep. She has spent first woman to serve as chief scientist at scientists and advocates from around
seven decades exploring the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric the world were invited to discuss wildlife
the world’s oceans, with more than 7,000 Administration. She was named Time conservation. The ranch was declared a
hours underwater and 100 expeditions. Magazine’s first Hero of the Planet. She National Historic Landmark in 2006.
Sylvia never let gender get in the way was also the first woman to become the After Olaus’s death, Margaret continued
of her ambitions. In 1964, she joined a National Geographic Society’s Explorer- to advocate for the protection of America’s
six-week expedition to the Indian Ocean, in-Residence. remaining wilderness through letters and
where she was the only female on a ship Sylvia continues to devote her life to speeches. In 1980, she helped establish the
of 70 crew members, and in 1970 she led a protecting the world’s oceans. Her own Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation
team of all-female aquanauts living for two conservation initiative, Mission Blue, Act and stated, “Beauty is a resource in and
MARGARET MURIE: GETTY
weeks in underwater laboratory Tektite II, is creating a global network of marine of itself. Alaska must be allowed to be Alaska,
SYLVIA EARLE: ALAMY
off the coast of the Virgin Islands. protected areas known as Hope Spots. that is her greatest economy.”
Not only did Sylvia defy the norm and Sylvia may be well into her 80s, but she At the age of 97, Margaret’s lifetime of
forge a path for women in marine biology, still continues to dive. In 2023, she made devotion to conservation was recognised
but she has earned some remarkable her first dive in Brazilian waters to visit when she was awarded the Presidential
achievements. When four months a Hope Spot in the seas surrounding the Medal of Freedom – the highest award for
pregnant, she became the first female Cagarras Islands, off Rio de Janeiro. civilians in the USA.

Respect was key
to Dian building a
relationship with
the gorillas
Dian Fossey
A
merican primatologist
Dian Fossey first observed
mountain gorillas in
1963. Captivated by their
behaviour, she soon returned
Dian’s methods
were unorthodox by
to Africa to learn more about them, and
today’s standards became a leading expert on the subspecies.
Four years later, she founded the
Karisoke Research Center in the Virunga
Mountains, Rwanda, continuing her studies
in the behaviour and social interactions
of mountain gorillas. To gain the trust of
the apes, she often mimicked their actions
and expressions. Soon, Dian came to know
them as individuals, identifying them
from the wrinkles above their noses. Her
groundbreaking research changed the way
the public perceived gorillas.
Poachers posed a serious threat to her
subjects and Dian used controversial tactics
to deter them. In 1978, she established the
Digit Fund to finance anti-poaching patrols,
named in memory of her favourite gorilla,
Digit, who was brutally killed by poachers.
Dian was tragically murdered in 1985.
She was aged just 53 and laid to rest next
to her “beloved Digit”. But her dedication
to helping save gorillas continues today
through the work of the Dian Fossey Gorilla
Fund. Without her courage, commitment
and efforts, mountain gorillas may have gone
DIAN FOSSEY: ALAMY
extinct. In the region where she worked

for almost two decades, the population of
mountain gorillas doubled. Her legacy will
live on through her remarkable research
and will surely continue to inspire future
conservationists around the world.

TEN WOMEN O
Lily
Venizelos
I
n 1974, bad weather forced the
Venizelos family boat to anchor in
Laganas Bay, Zakynthos, Greece. Lily
discovered a paradise of birds, plants
and flowers on a pristine beach, and Lily (inset) has worked for
no hotels in sight. But when she returned in sea turtle conservation
the 1980s, coastal developments had popped for more than 40 years
up. When she realised that the beach was
home to nesting loggerhead turtles, her
devotion to sea turtle conservation began.
Lily appealed to the Bern Convention
(which aims to conserve nature across
Europe) to make the international
community aware of the situation. Her life
was threatened several times by locals who
didn’t care for the turtles and wanted the
developments to continue, but she continued
to lobby the Greek government and by 1987,
LILY VENIZELOS: MEDASSET; SEA TURTLE: ALAMY
new regulations were brought in to protect

the loggerhead turtles. Eventually, in 1999,
Laganas Bay became Greece’s first Marine
National Park. Without her dedication, there
would have been a catastrophic loss of sea
turtles in this important nesting area and in
the Mediterranean.
The work of the Mediterranean
Association to Save the Sea Turtles
(MEDASSET) continues to this day with
founder Lily still serving as president. She
may now be in her 90s, but her passion for
the turtles shows no signs of abating.
Saengduean
Saengduean is
passionate about Chailert
S
improving the
lives of elephants ince hearing the haunting
cries of elephants forced to
work in logging, Saengduean,
also known as Lek, has devoted
SAENGDUEAN CHAILERT: SAVE THE ELEPHANT FOUNDATION
her life to protecting Asian

elephants in Thailand. In the early 1990s,
Lek ran a mobile clinic, known as the
Jumbo Express, where she provided medical
care to elephants in nearby villages. But it
wasn’t until 2003 that a generous donation
helped her establish the 250-acre Elephant
Nature Park, a sanctuary for elephants who
have been rescued from the tourism and
illegal logging industries. Lek is commited
to educating locals and tourists about
inhuman practices such as elephant riding.
The park treats its elephants with respect
and compassion – visitors observe from a
distance, allowing the residents to roam free,
without any disturbances.

A convict settlement in
a past life, Maria Island
is now a sanctuary for
endangered species
Words by ROSS GURDEN
Nestled off Tasmania’s

east coast, Maria Island
was designated a National
Park in 1971. Wombats star
among its many wild riches.

ALAMY
OWOMBATS
Maria Island
is fringed by
sheltered bays
The former penitentiary building on Maria

Island has been converted into basic
bunkhouse accommodation for tourists
Grasslands are
wombat hotspots
had barely disembarked I’d just landed on Maria Island – a 115km2

lump of forested rock off the east coast of
from the ferry when I Tasmania – after a 30-minute sail across the
Mercury Passage. Following in the footsteps
spotted my first wombat, of First Nations people who had been making
regular canoe crossings to the island they
know as Wukaluwikiwayna for thousands
shuffling across the dusty of years, I had just 24 hours to explore a
thriving ecosystem that naturalists refer to as
path just a couple of metres “Australia’s best example of Noah’s Ark”.
Myriad creatures call Maria Island home,
in front of me. About the but it was the wombats that I really wanted
to see. And, as it turned out, that was going
size of a pitbull and with a to be far from difficult.
gently waddling gait, this ABOUT THE AUTHOR

compact, furry lawnmower was clearly on the Ross Gurden is a zookeeper
at the Berkshire College of
search for fresh grazing, but I like to think it Agriculture Zoo and wildlife
photographer from Oxford.
You can see more of his work
had come out especially to greet me. @rossgurdenphotography.

Wombat poo: the cubed
shape is thought to stop
it from rolling away
“Australia is packed with small Where is Maria Island?

and intriguing marsupials”
AUSTRALIA
PENITENTIARY BUILDING: ALAMY; WOMBAT: ROSS GURDEN
On the short walk from the ferry port to two other species: the southern hairy-nosed,
MARIA ISLAND: GETTY; WOMBAT DROPPINGS: GETTY
my accommodation at the long-abandoned found in a region of Australia’s south-central

Darlington Township, I strolled past several mainland; and the northern hairy-nosed,
more, including females with their single confined to two locations in Queensland.
joeys, all peacefully grazing and seemingly With just a few hundred individuals left, the TASMANIA
unfazed by my presence. Wombats are latter is now considered one of the rarest
mainly solitary (groups, when they do occur, land mammals on Earth.
A
are known as ‘wisdoms’), and it was as if
MARIA ISLAND
their positions, appropriately spaced out ustralia is packed with
across the surrounding expanse of grassland, small and intriguing
Maria Island sits off the east coast of
had been carefully orchestrated. marsupials, and wombats
Tasmania (an Australian state). It is
These were Flinders Island wombats, are one of the more familiar. accessible by ferry from the town of
a subspecies of common wombats, which Though they aren’t exactly Triabunna. The island is car-free, so
are numerous across Tasmania and parts small, weighing up to 40kg, they would have exploration is on foot or by bicycle.
of south-east mainland Australia. There are been dwarfed by their enormous ancestor,

OWOMBATS
The Painted Cliffs

can be found on
the east coast of
the island
FOSSIL CLIFFS: GETTY
Fossil foray
Maria Island is famous not only for its wildlife residents,
but also for its rich fossil cliffs. Located a short walk from
Darlington, these are considered globally important for their
wealth of 300-million-year-old marine fossils. Clams, corals,
sea lilies and scallop shells can be seen among the prehistoric
haul. Wander south of Darlington and along Hopground Beach A pademelon – a solitary
and you’ll also come across Maria Island’s spectacular painted and nocturnal little
cliffs, so called for their patterns of sandstone, which are best wallaby
viewed at low tide.
Diprotodon optatum, which roamed during But Maria Island was not always a wild
the Pleistocene and finally died out about oasis. In the early 1800s, it provided a base
12,000 years ago. Giant wombats, as they for whalers and sealers, and from 1825-1850
were known, are thought to be the largest it served as a penal colony. The island had
marsupial to have existed, growing to 1.8m at been selected for such a service thanks to
the shoulder and 4m in length, and clocking its plentiful natural resources, which could
up almost 3 tonnes in weight. be exploited through convict labour, and its
Modern wombats have several quirky island location 4km from the mainland. Yet
characteristics. First, they famously pass the expanse of water proved little deterrent
cube-shaped stools, as many as 100 of which to any inmate that could fashion a raft.
can be excreted in one night. Stacked in a Maria Island quickly became notorious for
PADEMELON: NATUREPL.COM; TASMANIAN DEVIL: GETTY
manner reminiscent of stone-balancing, its frequency of escapes and had ceased to

these deposits are used to mark territories be a convict settlement by 1832, though it
and attract members of the opposite sex. continued as a probation station until 1850.
Second, wombats are equipped with the It has also, at various times in its history,
‘world’s deadliest butt’. Comprising thick hosted fishing and farming communities, and
bone plates that act as armour and with even a cement works, built to process the
few nerves, their behinds are used to crush island’s rich limestone deposits.
T
predators’ skulls against the roofs of their
burrows. Third, they have continuously oday, other than a few
growing teeth, an adaptation to a herbivore’s park rangers and tourists –
diet of grasses, shrub roots and tree bark. which are visiting Maria in
Indeed, there is plenty to love about these increasing numbers – there
charismatic and confiding animals, which are no residents on the island.
have been quite at home on Maria Island for The buildings have been left to crumble, with The Tasmanian devil population on Maria Island
the past 60 years. the prison ruins now World Heritage Listed, now numbers nearly 100 individuals

A baby wombat leaves
its mother's pouch
at the age of nine
months, but stays with
her for another year
“Wombats are equipped with more interesting experience. Turning on my

head torch, I locked eyes with a southern
brown bandicoot staring up at me. Rat-
the ‘world’s deadliest butt’’ like marsupials that sport pointy snouts,
bandicoots are omnivorous, foraging in leaf
litter for fungi, plant roots and insects as
well as fruits, seeds and other plant matter.
though the barracks have been converted laid bare as the sun set. Sitting on the After deciding that I was not something on
into bunkhouse accommodation. balcony of a tumbledown house, I watched which to dine, the creature hopped off into
The natural features that once made the island descend into darkness with the darkness.
W
Maria Island a suitable penal colony also wildlife all around me. A mob of kangaroos
made it an ideal sanctuary for threatened calmly bounced across the grass, presumably ombats have few
species. So it was that, in the 1960s, efforts to find better grazing. Yet another wombat natural predators,
to increase diversity on the island sprang came so close that I could hear it effortlessly particularly on an
into action. Native pademelons, a species chomp the grass, occasionally looking up as island, but one
best described as a smaller version of a if to keep an eye on me. I couldn’t help but creature with a taste
wallaby, and whose indigenous Australian wonder how the prisoners would have felt for these marsupials has arrived here in the
name translates as ‘small kangaroo of the years later, had they got the opportunity to recent past. In 2012, 15 Tasmanian devils
forest’, were joined by Forester (grey) admire the wildlife that now roamed the were translocated to Maria Island to provide
kangaroos, Bennett’s wallabies, common island on which they were once incarcerated. a back-up population free from devil facial
brushtail possums, Cape barren geese and Later, perched on a walkway outside tumour disease, a condition that has wiped
WOMBATS: GETTY
of course, common wombats. Such dramatic my digs under a starry sky, I met another of out a colossal 80 per cent of the species
conservation measures led to the island Maria Island’s inhabitants. As a zookeeper, elsewhere in its range.
gaining National Park status in 1971. I am accustomed to having my personal Their arrival has brought mixed
I dropped my bag at the bunkhouse and space invaded by animals, but a wild creature blessings. Data suggests that they have
headed out for a stroll, the island’s beauty brushing past in the darkness is an altogether helped to restore ecological balance to the

The two halves
of Maria Island
are connected by
McRae's Isthmus
MARIA ISLAND: GETTY

ANATOMY IN FOCUS
Bandicoots forage
in leaf litter with
Back to front their pointy snouts
Like other marsupials, such as kangaroos
and koalas, wombats are equipped with
pouches for carrying their young. But
while those of most marsupials face the
front, a wombat pouch faces backwards.
So, if a female is standing with her back
to you, you might spy
her joey peeping out
between her rear legs.
It’s thought that
this adaptation
prevents the
youngster
from getting
smothered with
dirt and the cavity
of the pouch filling
with soil when the
female is burrowing.
island by controlling numbers of common and Clerk Peak, which, at 620m above sea with many of the ruins here, its foundations
brushtail possums, which have been level, is the second-highest point on the have been repurposed as a burrow system.
described by scientists as overwhelming island after Mount Maria (711m). Wombats are in fact the planet’s largest
the island, but they have also decimated the Wombats don’t appear to be early risers. burrowing herbivores, digging using their
populations of some of the island’s nesting Not a single individual was to be seen as I front claws and pushing soil backwards
seabirds. Monitoring of scat has found set out on my walk. As if to compensate, a with their hind feet and rump. They create
that wombats are also a component of the bandicoot showed itself five minutes into subterranean systems up to 30m long and
devil’s diet, though there is no evidence that my journey. Unlike the bold individual I several metres deep, furnished with various
they prey on adults, and there has been no had encountered the previous night, this entrances. The burrows are used to rest, hide
negative impact on Maria Island’s wombat one stayed well away, maintaining a statue from predators, and keep warm in winter
population. There has also been positive pose. Bandicoots are nocturnal, hence the and cool in summer. Wombats tend to have
news about the plight of the Tasmanian devil unease at being visible in the light of the overlapping home ranges with multiple
WOMBATS: GETTY; BANDICIOOT: ROSS GURDEN
as a whole, with the spread of facial cancer early morning. As I continued to climb, burrows, so these dwellings are often shared.
slowing after what has been described as an the terrain swiftly changed from grassland, The nonchalant pair grazed right in front of
amazing evolutionary response. where wombats mainly reside and thrive, me, then the mother moved off, effortlessly
A
to forested areas where bandicoots and navigating the messy assault course of bricks
fter a night in the pademelons are much more at home, taking and ruins, her offspring breaking into an
barracks, I woke to a warm advantage of the additional cover offered exuberant trot behind her.
and cloudless sky. The from potential predators. I reached the top My 24 hours were nearly up. I took a final
east coast of Tasmania to breathtaking, birds-eye views. stroll around the grasslands before heading
has a milder climate than Back down in the township, I sat on the to the ferry port, where the island delivered
much of mainland Australia, with average balcony of an old house for a spot of lunch. one last memorable moment. There, right by
temperatures ranging from the teens to the Suddenly, out popped a wombat mother and the path, was a mother and joey wombat.
mid-20s. I hiked 11km to the top of Bishop joey from under the adjacent building. As I like to think they’d come to see me off.

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With Stuart Blackman
Email your questions to wildlifemagazine@ourmedia.co.uk
What is an Old
World monkey?
roadly, there are two types Christopher Columbus’s famous voyages monkeys, spider monkeys, marmosets and
of monkey, which can be of discovery. But he wasn’t the first tamarins we see there today.
distinguished by which side of the primate to cross the Atlantic. Meanwhile, the Old World lineage
Atlantic Ocean – or, indeed, the There was a time when all monkeys produced the baboons, vervets, langurs,
Pacific – they live on. Old World lived in the Old World. But about 50 colobus, mangabeys and macaques, among
monkeys are native to Africa, Asia million years ago, some of them made it others. It also gave rise, about 30 million
and Europe, whereas New World monkeys to South America, perhaps on a raft of years ago, to the apes, which means that
all live in South and Central America. vegetation (the Atlantic wasn’t as wide Old World monkeys are more closely
The terms Old World and New as it is now), where they gave rise to the related to chimps, gorillas and ourselves
World were coined by Europeans after sakis, howlers, uakaris, capuchins, squirrel than they are to New World monkeys.

A colourful pair of
millipedes in Borneo
Millipedes and centipedes

– what’s the difference?
ompared to the other major Millipedes are mostly vegetarian. They
arthropod groups, myriapods have more or less cylindrical bodies and
don’t figure highly in the collective defend themselves by secreting potent
imagination. These long, leggy toxins such as hydrogen cyanide from
invertebrates, of which centipedes glands dotted along their flanks. With low-
and millipedes are the most familiar, slung, flattened bodies, most centipedes are
aren’t ubiquitous like insects, or unsettling nimble predators. Their first pair of walking
like arachnids, or delicious like crustaceans. legs have been re-modelled as piercing fangs
They go quietly about their business in the that inject venom into their prey.
tight spaces and dark, dank corners of the Millipede mating involves the male
world: under logs, rocks and bark, and in transferring sperm from his genital opening
rotting wood, leaf litter and deep soil. Out to the female’s using specialised legs called
of sight, out of mind. gonopods. In centipedes,
Superficially, centipedes “Millipedes fertilisation doesn’t involve
and millipedes look rather alike,
with elongated, segmented,
are bulldozers; bodily contact at all. Instead,
males deposit bundles of
armoured bodies fringed with centipedes are sperm, called spermatophores,
a multitude of jointed legs. rollercoasters” on the ground, which are then
The name ‘myriapod’, derived picked up by females.
from the ancient Greek for ‘ten But millipedes and
thousand feet’, is a spectacular centipedes are not the only
RED-SHANKED DOUC: NATUREPL.COM; MILLIPEDES: ALAMY
exaggeration. The only millipede (Latin for myriapods. The phylum includes two other
‘a thousand feet’) that lives up to its name groups – pauropods and symphylans – both
is a subterranean species from Western of which are plentiful in a shovelful of
Australia that boasts 1,306 legs. Centipedes garden soil, but are so easily overlooked
(‘a hundred feet’) have no more than 200. that they haven’t even earned common
The European house centipede has just names. At less than 2mm long and with no
30 very long ones. A defining difference more than 11 pairs of legs, pauropods look
between the two groups is that centipedes like tiny, compact millipedes. The more
have a single pair of legs per body segment, centipede-like symphylans are only a little
while millipedes have two. More legs mean bigger and sport 12 pairs of legs. Males
more traction, but less manoeuvrability, a spin silk plinths for their spermatophores.
The stunning red-shanked
trade-off expressed in their respective styles Bizarrely, the females store these in
douc lives in rainforests
in Vietnam and Laos of locomotion. Millipedes are bulldozers; dedicated cheek pouches and fertilise their
centipedes are rollercoasters. eggs by licking them as they are laid.

Q A Our original
ancestor may
leafy, plant-like creatures seem to be mostly
filter-feeders attached to the seabed, but
some may have been free-living grazers.
have been
a sponge...
Chemical analyses show they contain
compounds manufactured only by animals.
But their relationships to modern animals
– and, indeed, earlier ones – is a mystery.
They might have been an evolutionary
experiment that left no descendents.
If fossils cannot yet point us to the
very first animals, genetics can get us
tantalisingly close. By comparing the DNA
sequences of living animals, geneticists can
reconstruct evolutionary relationships right
back to the point at which the first animal
lineage split into two. Several attempts have
been made, with some studies suggesting
that one of the two lineages gave rise to
sponges and the other to all other animals.
This would support the idea that sponges
appeared before other animals. Other
studies, though, point to the comb
jellies (iridescent, jellyfish-like
creatures that are not jellyfish, but
belong to a separate group) as being
the ones that first went off on their
own, which would mean that the first
What was the first ...or a comb
jelly, perhaps
comb jelly came into existence before
the first sponge.
animal on Earth? Equipped with muscles and nervous

systems, modern comb jellies are far more
complicated than sponges.
or the first two billion or so years more than a colony of cells But it doesn’t follow that the
of life on Earth, the only organisms arranged so as to be able to
“It was doing first ones would have been.
to exist were single-celled microbes. filter food from water. its thing After all, they have undergone
The evolution of biological complexity Molecular clocks (which 800 million hundreds of millions of years
was so slow in those early days that use the mutation rates of DNA of independent evolution since
scientists have dubbed one vast to estimate the point in time years ago” then. Might it have looked
stretch of this period the ‘boring billion’. that lineages shared a common something like a sponge?
Evolution is not for the impatient. ancestor) tell us that, whatever the first There’s also the question of the identity
The first animals – multi-cellular life- animal was, it was doing its thing about of the simple animal life-form that existed
forms that breathe oxygen and consume 800 million years ago. But fossil evidence is before that first lineage split into two.
other life-forms – have long been thought scarce around this time. Whatever it was, it left quite a legacy.
to have looked something like a modern-day The fossil record doesn’t really get lively Everything that creeps, crawls, slithers,
sponge, a simple creature lacking organs, until about 580 million years ago when the scuttles, gallops, hops and flies owes its
muscles or nervous system that is little enigmatic Ediacarans appear. These lobed, existence to this mystery ancestor.
RECORD BREAKER!
FACT.
SPONGE: GETTY; COMB JELLY: ALAMY; BLUEFIN TUNA: ALAMY
What’s the
fastest fish? Owls have
tube-shaped
eyes rather
At a fishing event in Florida in the early 1900s, a
than ‘eyeballs’
hooked Indo-Pacific sailfish reportedly pulled out
and they
91m of line in three seconds, which equates to a
cannot move
speed of 110kph (68mph). This record has been
them. Instead,
questioned on the basis of both the reliability of the
the raptors are
measurement and the laws of physics. However,
able to rotate
more recently, tagged sailfish have been logged
their necks
accelerating at a rate that, if sustained for just
270º (humans
two seconds, would result in a speed of 126kph
Bluefin tuna: the can only rotate
(78mph). Bluefin tuna, though, can accelerate even
ocean’s answer their necks
faster – over the same two seconds, they could
to the cheetah about 180º).
theoretically reach 232kph (144mph).

WHAT
ON EARTH?
Magic roundabout
ANDREA MICHELUTTI
eating the eggs of other nudibranchs. This one has been feeding on
the purple ribbon of eggs belonging to a much larger species called the
Spanish dancer, on which it has also deposited its masterpiece.

Ducks don’t FAST ANSWERS
know what’s
DUCKS, GLOW WORM & SNAKE: ALAMY

good for them
Females glow in order to attract males
What are
glow worms?
Like inch worms (moth caterpillars)
and slow worms (legless lizards), glow
worms are not worms. They are beetles,
albeit very strange ones. The males are
conventional enough, but the females
are anything but. Lacking wings and
retaining the heavy, segmented armour
of the larvae into adulthood – more
like flattened millipedes than worms,
to be fair – they emit a greenish
bioluminescent glow from the tips of
their abdomens to attract mates.
Are there any

green spiders?
Green isn’t a very spidery sort of
colour. Which is surprising, given that
many species hunt or build their webs
amongst vegetation, where green
camouflage ought to be an advantage.
Perhaps the most likely to be
encountered in the UK are the various
species of cucumber spider, some of
which sport a red spot on their rear end.
They sling their perfect little orb-webs
between the curled-up edges of a
single leaf.
Should you feed Common garter snake
How long do
bread to birds? snakes live?
eeding the birds is one of life’s products thrown at Reptiles tend to punch
simple pleasures. But deciding when, them by toddlers are less above their weight
when it comes to lifespan
how and what to feed them can be motivated to forage for
and snakes can expect
surprisingly tricky. The question of other, more healthy options. a relatively long innings.
whether we should feed bread to birds “Bread is fine for water Ball pythons can live at least
is usually posed in the context of birds as long as it only forms a 62 years in captivity. Even a
ducks in the park. small part of their diet,” advises the small pet garter snake can make it to
There’s little evidence that it does them Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT). over a decade. Wild animals, though,
much harm in itself, though one study “Moderation is especially important in the must contend with predators and
unpredictable food supplies. Data is
from the 1980s suggested that a bread diet spring and summer, when an unbalanced
thin on the ground, but among the
reduces muscle mass in swans. diet can cause developmental problems for Colubridae, for example, a family of
The current consensus is that bread growing young birds.” more than 2,000 species that includes
just doesn’t have the nutritional value of On the other hand, feeding bread might garters and grass snakes, lifespan
alternatives such as grain or vegetables still be better than nothing, especially in ranges from two to 50 years.
and that ducks that come to rely on bakery winter, when food is scarce.

Lizards, such as this
Peter’s rock agama,
he animal kingdom can be split rely on external heat
based on how body temperature
is controlled (thermoregulation):
‘cold-blooded’ ectotherms use
external sources of heat, such
as solar energy, whereas ‘warm-
blooded’ endotherms generate
internal heat via metabolism. But
while this difference helps define
features and behaviour, some species show
that the distinction between the two groups
isn’t so clear-cut.
What’s wrong with saying ‘cold-blooded’

and ‘warm-blooded’?
Some people don’t like those terms, with
good reason! Most invertebrates are
ecotherms and can’t be ‘blooded’ as they
don’t have actual blood, so are instead
classified as ectotherms. The labels ‘cold’
and ‘warm’ only really apply to vertebrates.
Another problem is that the terms
are relative, not absolute: in the desert, a
cold-blooded lizard might have a higher
body temperature than a warm-blooded
rodent. But despite what textbooks may
tell you, many scientists still use cold/warm INSTANT EXPERT
as synonyms for ecto/endo because the
meanings are almost interchangeable.
Why regulate body temperature?

Cold-blooded
& warm-blooded
Because the biochemical reactions that
sustain life work best within a certain range.
Many animals are homeotherms, which
means they aim to maintain bodies near an
optimum temperature using physiological WITH EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGIST JV CHAMARY
and/or behavioural strategies. Endotherms
can avoid overheating by surface
evaporation (dogs pant, for instance) and If a warm-blooded animal is like a under 5ºC. Big animals have less surface
gain warmth through physical activity, while motorbike then a cold-blooded creature is area (where heat is lost) relative to size, so
ectotherms (such as a crocodile basking in a pushbike: lower performance, but also some scientists believe that large reptiles
the sun) can cool down by moving to shade. lower fuel consumption. Ectotherms lead maintain body temperatures through a
an economical lifestyle – an advantage when phenomenon called gigantothermy.
How do endotherms generate heat? food is limited or unpredictable, when an
All vertebrates can warm the body by endotherm would have to either starve or Were dinosaurs warm-blooded?
shivering (repeated muscular contraction), migrate. This enables cold-blooded species Large ones are often depicted in films and
but birds and mammals are classed as to occupy ecological niches that aren’t documentaries as slow and lumbering
endotherms because they’re also capable of available to warm-blooded ones. beasts under the assumption that their
generating heat from metabolism by ‘non- physiology was similar to living reptiles.
shivering thermogenesis’. The processes Are there exceptions? But based on growth rates (estimated
that produce heat in each group are distinct, Plenty. Some species from cold-blooded from fossil bones), dinosaurs weren’t
so many biologists think that they evolved groups could be considered warm-blooded cold-blooded: their metabolic rates – and
independently: true mammals burn a type as they raise their body temperature above in turn their ability to generate heat – were
of fat called brown adipose tissue and birds ambient. Large fish such as mackerel sharks halfway between those of ectotherms and
flap their wings to heat pectoral muscles. (including the great white), billfishes (such endotherms. So instead, dinosaurs may
as swordfish and marlin) and tunas heat have been mesotherms – what you might
Are ectotherms at a disadvantage? body regions as a by-product of contracting call ‘lukewarm-blooded’ vertebrates.
AGAMA & NEXT MONTH: GETTY
No! It’s tempting to assume that the more red muscles while swimming, and a blood-
sophisticated heating mechanisms used by flow system that limits heat loss. Opahs can
NEXT MONTH WITH JV

mammals and birds have allowed them to even warm their whole bodies.
be more successful than ‘primitive’ fish and Among reptiles, leatherback turtles are
reptiles. In fact, being cold-blooded has its insulated by a layer of subcutaneous fat –
benefits. Notably, because their heat doesn’t similar to blubber in seals and whales – that BIODIVERSITY
come from metabolism, ectotherms need helps keep body temperature at about 25ºC Measuring life on Earth
far less energy to function. during deep dives or in sub-polar waters

Q A
Some male orangutans

develop cheek pads
called flanges
ALL YOU EVER NEEDED TO KNOW ABOUT THE Where do they live?
Humans are the most adaptable great ape
Great apes and can be found living in almost every part

of the world, but chimpanzees, bonobos and
gorillas only exist in Africa, and orangutans
BY NAKEDI MAPUTLA, CONSERVATION SCIENTIST AT AFRICAN WILDLIFE FOUNDATION are restricted to the islands of Sumatra and
Borneo in South-East Asia. All non-human
great apes generally prefer forest habitats.
hink you know your family? (Homo sapiens), the other three genera can What do they eat?
Well, think again. You might be divided into seven species, so there are Great apes are vegetarian for the most
call yourself a Jones or a Patel, eight species in total. part – they forage on leaves, stems and
but you’re also a hominid – a When it comes to the orangutans, fruits. However, chimpanzees and bonobos
great ape belonging to the family there are three species: Bornean, Sumatran occasionally eat meat, including insects,
Hominidae. Bigger and brainer and Tapanuli. The genera Pan, commonly other primates and duikers (which are a
than all other primates, great apes referred to as chimpanzees, actually species of antelope).
are also distinguished by their comprises two species: both chimpanzees
sophisticated social structures and bonobos. Chimpanzees can be further How big are they?
and the way they exhibit culture. As well as broken down into four subspecies: eastern, Great apes are considerably larger than
humans, the family comprises orangutans, central, Nigeria-Cameroon and western. other primates, such as lemurs, bushbabies,
gorillas and chimpanzees – the latter two Lastly, there are two species of gorilla, aye-ayes and marmosets, and gorillas are
are our closest genetic relatives, sharing the eastern and western. The eastern gorilla the heaviest. An adult male can weigh more
98.7 per cent of their DNA with us. consists of two subspecies, the Grauer’s than 200kg (roughly equivalent to three
gorilla and mountain gorilla, and the washing machines!), followed by an adult
How many species are there? western also consists of two, the western male orangutan, which can reach 90kg.
Great apes are made up of four genera: lowland and cross river. Chimpanzees and bonobos are smaller,
humans (Homo), orangutans (Pongo), Interestingly, all great ape subspecies with an adult male chimpanzee weighing up
gorillas (Gorilla) and chimpanzees (Pan). are declining, except for the mountain to 70kg and an adult male bonobo having
While there is only one species of human gorilla, which is increasing. a comparable body mass of up to 60kg,

Bonobos are known for
their harmonious and
female-dominant
social systems
despite the widely held belief that bonobos passed down from generation to generation
are significantly smaller, perpetuated by within different populations, including tool-
their alternative name ‘pygmy chimpanzees’. use and vocalisation.
While there are marked size differences
between the sexes in gorillas and How do they reproduce?
orangutans, with males generally double the The mating systems of great apes are
weight of females, there is no more than a complex and determined by the social
10kg difference between male and female status of males and the attractiveness
chimpanzees and bonobos. of females. Generally, great apes don’t
reproduce until they are at least 13 years
What is a lesser ape? old. The gestation period ranges from
The lesser apes are gibbons, which are 200 to 290 days across all species. In
smaller than great apes and live in the non-human great apes, the period between
forests of South-East Asia. There are consecutive births ranges from about five
14 species and all of them are tree-dwelling, to eight years.
rarely venturing onto the ground.
How long do great apes live?
Do great apes live in social groups? Roughly 50-60 years in captivity, though
Yes, great apes have elaborate social fewer in the wild.
structures. Large groups of chimpanzees,
bonobos and orangutans often break into How intelligent are great apes?
smaller, temporary groups and then reunite, Great apes have larger brains than other
Top: a silverback (dominant adult male) depending on food availability (a set-up primates and demonstrate an ability to
mountain gorilla in Volcanoes National Park, known as fission-fusion society). Great apes reason, show empathy, imitate and perceive
Rwanda. Above: young orangutans learn what have also been observed demonstrating what others might think.
to eat from their mothers. cultural variations: behaviours that are
Can great apes swim?
A GREAT APE’S SPECIAL FEATURES There have been reports of great apes
swimming and diving.
AT A GLANCE
Scientific family
Big How do great apes communicate?
name: Hominidae
Height: up to 1.8m brains Great apes communicate in several ways,
(gorillas) including vocalisation and gesturing. Non-
Weight: up to 220kg human apes are unable to talk because they
(gorillas) lack vocal chords, which manipulate air
movements to produce desired sounds.
No external tail
Arms that
NEXT MONTH
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can rotate
Larger than freely
other primates around the GILA MONSTER
shoulder The deadly desert lizard

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The crossword
ACROSS
8 Filter structure in the mouths of some
whales (6)
9 African bulbul that may be red-tailed or
simple (4-4)
10 Insect in the order Lepidoptera (4)
11 Small seabird with black head in
summer (6,4)
12 Beak (4)
13 Pill bugs (4-6)
17 Yellowjacket, for one (4)
18 Steve ___, Australian conservationist
and broadcaster (5)
19 Beaver construction (4)
21 Tree, Prunus padus, also called
hackberry (4,6)
23 North American rail (4)
24 Writer and broadcaster known as ‘The
Urban Birder’ (5,5)
28 Upland habitat (4)
29 Reproducing adult female in the
family Formicidae (5,3)
30 ___ fish, tropical species that strikes
prey with jets of water (6)
DOWN
1 Flowering quince (8)
2 Squid or octopus, perhaps (10)
3 Marine fish that hunts with a lure (10)
4 ___fish, turbot or plaice, say (4)
5 Scut or brush, possibly (4) 22 International programme for 13 sprig, 14 giraffes, 16 cockatoo, 18 India,
6 Garden gastropod (4) tracking migratory animals in flight (6) 20 nest, 21 cordonbleu, 23 cheetah, 24 biology,
7 Develop, perhaps through natural 25 Holly genus (4) 25 tusked, 26 emerge. Down: 1 drupe,
selection (6) 26 Foliage component (4) 2 panther, 3 eyebright, 5 osier, 6 The Wolf,
14 ___ Guinean forests, region of tropical 27 Fruit with a shell and kernel (4) 7 cave hyena, 10 king cobra, 13 stonechat,
forest in West Africa (5) 15 Rhizobium, 17 kittens, 19 dabbler, 21 crane,
15 Plant in the mint family (10) February crossword 22 eagle.
16 Name for the cuckoo flower (5,5) Across: 1 dipper, 4 zoetic, 8 bunnies,
20 Small monkey (8) 9 Minerva, 11 hen harrier, 12 Oahu,
SPOT THE DIFFERENCE
Found throughout Australia, as well as New Guinea and eastern Indonesia, the Australian pelican’s bill can reach up to 50cm long and is used
GETTY
for catching fish. Can you spot all five differences between these two images? Turn to page 94 to find the answers.

w
Ruffled feathers
I visited Mangalajodi, Odisha,
and found this pair of black-
tailed godwits engaged in a
territorial fight for more than
10 minutes. They completely
ignored my presence.
Arindam Saha,
Kolkata, India
Rain clouds
Gorillas clearly show
emotions in their facial
expressions, and as it started
to drizzle this silverback
became very grumpy, arms
crossed and frowning.
Amish Chhagan,
Barcelona/Lusaka

SHARE!
Send your pics to
discoverwildlife.
com/submit-your-
photos to see them
in print!
Sitting pretty
A honeybee proudly
preens itself on a
helenium flower. I love
the way the depth of
field becomes hazy,
making the bee the
focal point.
Rebecca Soukal,
Yorkshire
Head first
A pair of praying mantis
caught mid-copulation.
The female has already
eaten the male’s head
and part of his neck,
but they will continue
until he dies.
Mario Gustavo Fiorucci,
Santa Rosa, Argentina
Soft touch
I was in the Maasai Mara when we came across this lioness
scanning the open plains before she stopped to pick up her cub.
Shivangi Mehta, West Sussex

Any epic fails you’d be willing to share?
Orsolya atop Mount I remember one epic fail very well. Back in
Ritatjåkkå, Sweden 2010, my then husband Erlend and I were
photographing the Eyjafjallajökull Volcano
in Iceland during its early eruption phase.
We’d never photograped such an event
before. We found the perfect viewpoint and
noticed flashes of lightning appearing in
the ash plume. After dark, we decided we’d
probably done enough, so headed back down
the mountain to our mobile home. In the
morning, we awoke to find the news websites
flooded with spectacular images of the
volcano lightning against the night sky, taken
by other photographers. I’ll never know why
we were silly enough to leave our perfect
position in the middle of a once-in-a-lifetime
event. I was so utterly cross with myself that
I experienced actual physical pain for several
weeks afterwards. Even today, 14 years later,
I find it very uncomfortable to recall the
experience. We did capture other unique
images of the eruption, but this was still a
SNAP-CHAT
fail I will never forget…!
What’s been your most memorable

encounter with a wild animal?
I was on a late-night hiking trip in Padjelanta
WITH BBC WILDLIFE PICTURE EDITOR TOM GILKS National Park, Sweden. It was close to
midnight and I suddenly found myself
Orsolya Haarberg talks cold feet between a wolverine and the reindeer herd
he was chasing. He was just a couple of
and confiding wolverines metres away, and I was able to photograph
him in his wild mountain environment. It
was a breathtaking experience.
How did your career start? particularly challenging. The most bitter cold What landscape elsewhere in the world
When I was 18, my parents bought some I’ve experienced was when photographing would you like to one day document?
camera equipment from my uncle. I knew musk oxen in Dovrefjell-Sunndalsfjella I no longer feel the call to photograph
then that photography was my path. National Park, Norway. I had to endure spectacular landscapes around the world,
sub-zero temperatures combined with strong mostly for environmental reasons. Since
You specialise in cold, remote winds for 8-10 hours a day, and I wasn’t able moving to Vågå, in the heart of the
landscapes. Why do these appeal? to move to warm myself up. Over the years, Norwegian mountains, in 2018, I’ve been
They are clean and simple, lacking the I’ve learned to cope by changing into a pair working on projects within 100km or so
dominance of unwanted colours, and leave of warm shoes three or four sizes too big from my home. It’s quite difficult to earn a
space for personal interpretation. when I know I have to stand still. living from fine-art print sales, so I also do
interior design projects using locally sourced
Have you ever found yourself in a natural materials.
Cold encounters
hairy situation? with musk oxen
Many times! I have attempted to paddle What’s your one piece of advice to
a canoe on stormy seas, I’ve found myself budding wildlife photographers?
hanging off a cliff that I mistakenly thought I If you have the talent, the interest,
would be able to climb while carrying a heavy the passion and the diligence, you will
backpack, and I’ve fallen into a river while undoubtedly grow as a nature photographer.
wandering in the Scandinavian wilderness. However, do be mindful about the impacts
I once even found myself crossing a snow- of travelling.
covered, crack-riddled glacier in thick fog
with zero visibility. So far I have been lucky What one piece of kit has always proved
– I sometimes think there must be a little a lifesaver?
angel sitting on my shoulder. Large plastic bags outside my socks! Soaking
ERLEND HAARBERG
wet shoes are no fun in winter...

What’s the coldest you’ve ever been?
I have worked in temperatures of -30˚C, Orsolya is a landscape photographer from
but as conditions were calm, it was not Norway. More at fjellheimengalleri.no.

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Cassowaries can be to Walpole across beautiful unspoilt
almost 1.5m tall and countryside, putting wildlife at risk and
deserve respect blighting the environment for generations
to come? I find it unbelievable that a
wildlife magazine of all things would be
championing a proposal that will devastate
not only people’s quality of life, but also put
at risk a vast and fragile natural ecosystem
that makes this part of the country unique
in its wildlife diversity. Why, when there
are far better and less destructive ways to
achieve their objective, do you support this
mad plan?
Sue Clarkson, via email
EDITOR PAUL MCGUINNESS REPLIES:

Thanks for letting us know how you feel, but
it would go against our impartiality guidelines
to accept or refuse advertising based on
our own personal beliefs. BBC Wildlife
neither condones nor objects to The Great
Grid Upgrade as it’s not for us to take sides.
Instead, we aim to provide balanced reporting
on all aspects of a wide range of controversial
subjects affecting wildlife. For instance, in
our March issue we had an article on new
research into the impact of wind turbines on
birds and mammals.
Pioneer naturalists
I must say that Conor Mark Jameson’s
He ran right at me, huge feature on W H Hudson (The Man Above
the Fireplace, October 2023) was both
interesting and informative. I would like to
slasher claws to the fore look forward to more articles on pioneers
of British natural history in future issues.
n relation to your feature on you can allow such patent greenwash in Names that come to mind are: Frances
cassowaries (Big Bird, February 2024), your pages. Sustainable energy is to be Pitt, Oliver G Pike, Richard St. Barbe
I once camped in the bush in a tiny tent welcomed, but National Grid is planning Baker, Harold Bastin, Frank Kingdon-Ward,
right beside Mission Beach. The first to transmit it over many miles of 50m Thomas A Coward and Arnold Boyd. We
morning, I knelt and opened the flaps pylons (not mentioned once in their should remember these people and their
to see an indignant cassowary only 5m advert), destroying the ever-decreasing contributions to our natural heritage.
away, glaring. He immediately lowered UK countryside. (We are the sixth most Norman Marshall, via email
his head and ran right at me, huge slasher nature-depleted country in the world.)
claws to the fore. Fortunately, in my terror “Potential impact to the landscape
I shrank back, and the flap closed itself. is possible?” No, it is actually impossible
Once I was no longer visible, the cassowary not to impact the landscape. Mitigation is
simply veered around the side of the tent almost unachievable, and as for “boosting
with his half-grown chicks. Whew! value” by “replanting wildflower meadows
I later collected from its nearby and native trees”, how is it boosting
droppings the fist-sized blue seeds of value to tear up existing habitats? No
the cassowary plum tree, which need ‘community grants’ could compensate for
to go through a cassowary’s digestive the destruction.
system to germinate – a great example of Alternatives: use new, five-times
co-evolution. I now have two of these rare more efficient conductors on old pylons, Answers to Spot The Difference on page 89
natives growing on my small acreage right or use undersea cables to keep electricity
on the Tropic of Capricorn, 900km south of generated offshore, transmitted offshore GET IN TOUCH
Mission Beach, so it was worth the fright. to where it is needed. And make landfall at
Julie Davies, brownfield sites. Email
wildlifemagazine@ourmedia.co.uk
Rockhampton, Central Queensland, Australia Penny Lang, Aldham
Post
CASSOWARY: ALAMY
Could you explain to me and the thousands BBC Wildlife, Eagle House,
National Grid of angry Lincolnshire residents why you Bristol, BS1 4ST
Regarding the National Grid advert in your are supporting the National Grid’s proposal By contacting us you consent to let us print your letter
in BBC Wildlife. Letters may be edited.
recent February issue, I cannot see how to build electricity pylons from Grimsby

Tigers are one of
the most iconic
mammal species
NEXT MONTH
Mammals ON SALE
Executive producer Roger Webb and series producer

Scott Alexander reveal their stories and behind-the-scenes 4th
APRIL
secrets from the making of Mammals, the brand-new series

coming to BBC One. Full of never-seen-before behaviours and species
as diverse as the tiny Etruscan shrew and the giant blue whale, the show
TIGER: GETTY
celebrates the most successful group of animals in the world.

TopTEN The key difference from
the blue-ringed octopus,
though, is that pufferfish
are considered a delicacy,
appearing on menus in
Stingray Japan as fugu. Licensed
chefs must prepare it in
such a way that the
toxic parts don’t
contaminate the
Box edible parts.
jellyfish
7 Stingray
Your chances of
being attacked by
these gentle creatures
are vanishingly small,
but they have been known
to injure people who have
Saltwater accidentally disturbed them.
crocodile The danger comes in the form
of venomous barbs along the
tail, which a stingray whips
when threatened. But its first
Beware the
venomous spines
form of defence, it should be
of the lionfish noted, is swimming away.
8 Saltwater crocodile
The largest reptile on Earth, the saltwater
Deadly sea creatures crocodile can grow to 7m long and weigh up

to 1,000kg. It also has the strongest bite in
the animal world and is aggressive when it
comes to defending its territory – typically
Our pick of 10 marine species brackish coastal waters – making it an
extremely dangerous proposition.
that are best avoided Even so, rates of crocodile attacks on
humans tend to be massively overhyped.
1 Box jellyfish cone snail would you be at risk – there have 9 Great white shark
LIONFISH, STINGRAY & BOX JELLYFISH: GETTY; SALTWATER CROCODILE & GOLIATH BIRDEATER: ALAMY
Found in coastal waters around the world, been around 30 deaths recorded. According to the International Shark Attack
the box jellyfish is one of the deadliest File, of the 949 confirmed unprovoked
animals on the planet. Its venom contains 4 Stonefish attacks by sharks on humans since 1958,
toxins that strike at the heart, nervous Camouflaged on rocks, coral reefs or the 351 were by great whites, with 59 of these
system and even skin cells of anyone seabed, and capable of staying completely attacks proving fatal. These statistics need
unlucky enough to touch one of its still, stonefish are practically invisible. to be taken with a pinch of salt, though, as
tentacles, which can reach up to 3m long. That’s dangerous to the prey they ambush easily identifiable species tend to skew any
and swallow whole, and to any human who list of shark attacks.
2 Beaked sea snake falls foul of their defensive dorsal spines,
Thought to be the deadliest of the 64 which deliver a venom that can lead to 10 Lionfish
species of snake that spend the majority swelling, necrosis and sometimes death. Capable of striking fear into the heart of
of their lives in the ocean, the beaked sea divers and snorkellers, in amongst the
snake delivers its venom via a small pair of 5 Blue-ringed octopus softly fluttering fins of this beautiful marine
fangs at the front of its mouth. This venom Don’t be deceived by the fact that they predator are more than a dozen spines able
contains a powerful toxin that causes are adorably pocket-sized – these Pacific to deliver a dose of powerful venom that
paralysis, including of the diaphragm, and Indian Ocean octopuses are both causes extreme pain and, in rare cases,
potentially leading to respiratory failure. venomous and poisonous. Their salivary symptoms including temporary paralysis,
glands produce tetrodotoxin, which rapidly shortness of breath and nausea. Jo Caird
3 Cone snail causes paralysis with potentially fatal
This pretty crustacean, which lives in consequences. Injuries to humans come
NEXT MONTH
temperate to tropical waters in the Indian from either being bitten by an octopus or
and Pacific Oceans, spears and paralyses from mistakenly eating it.
passing fish with a venom-filled ‘harpoon’
before pulling them into its mouth. While 6 Pufferfish BIGGEST SPIDERS
it’s rare for humans to be stung – only by Another creature that packs a neurotoxic Meet the Goliath birdeater
picking up or accidentally stepping on a punch when consumed is the pufferfish.

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SPRING

How bringing back

Tasmania’s Inside a wildlife Where to see

The Great American

How wolves have been

Wild Inside PAUL McGUINNESS, EDITOR

discoverwildlife.com BBC WILDLIFE 3

ADDRESS Our Media, Eagle House, Bristol BS1 4ST, UK

PHOTOGRAPHY AND ETHICS

4 BBC WILDLIFE Spring 2024

WOLF: LASSI RAUTIAINEN/NATUREPL.COM; MARINA: GETTY; ORANGUTAN: CHRISTOPHE COURTEAU/

NATUREPL.COM; CRANE: NICK UPTON/RSPB-IMAGES.COM

Every month, only in BBC Wildlife

6 BBC WILDLIFE Spring 2024

discoverwildlife.com BBC WILDLIFE 7

and accompanied by a group of

8 BBC WILDLIFE Spring 2024

10 BBC WILDLIFE Spring 2024

the efforts of those involved, from forest

discoverwildlife.com BBC WILDLIFE 11

12 BBC WILDLIFE Spring 2024

The largest of the anteater

discoverwildlife.com BBC WILDLIFE 13

n April and May, one of our most

ORIGIN Spotty coats help

OF PIECES dappled forests

14 BBC WILDLIFE Spring 2024

Out of hot water

wenty five red handfish – a pollution and nutrient run-off, as well as

discoverwildlife.com BBC WILDLIFE 17

A caterpillar with a whip in its tail

NEW SPECIES DISCOVERY

World’s smallest called stemapods, which each extrude a

unique double skin relatives occur in Africa, which suggests its

WHAT’S THE MEANING BEHIND THE

to acknowledge both its current

18 BBC WILDLIFE Spring 2024

Get your copy

discoverwildlife.com BBC WILDLIFE 21

Poland pauses logging

so-coloured thanks to a copper-

22 BBC WILDLIFE Spring 2024

range-tips ﬂitting along a verge or woodland ride are one of the

Nature Reserve, calls these lovely insects “a colour-by-numbers

Raptor numbers in scale of the declines are shocking but not

freefall across Africa Roads and transmission lines both have a

DARCY: M. ODINO; WILD BOAR PIGLET: ALAMY

FROM THE BBC WILDLIFE ARCHIVE April 2015

Nature’s weirdest designs

24 BBC WILDLIFE Spring 2024

26 BBC WILDLIFE Spring 2024

Lucy Cooke on the clever bacterium

discoverwildlife.com BBC WILDLIFE 27

ith their smart skullcaps –

BLACKCAP: ROBIN CHITTENDEN; DROPPINGS: GETTY; RACCOON: GETTY

28 BBC WILDLIFE Spring 2024

discoverwildlife.com BBC WILDLIFE 31

SHOALING SCALLOPED HAMMERHEADS

Just a snorkel will suffice to

is uniquely shaped like a double-headed sharks to detect prey hidden on or just

32 BBC WILDLIFE Spring 2024

discoverwildlife.com BBC WILDLIFE 33

TOP 1 SOCORRO ISLAND, MEXICO

5 RANGIROA, FRENCH POLYNESIA