Quick update.

Hello everyone sorry it has taken me so long to give write this however time has been limited recently with coursework and work taking priority. This edition really is as the title suggests a quick update as to what I have been up to recently. I hope you all have been enjoying the dry but colder weather recently ! so without further delay here is the latest edition !

    Plovers, news and humour.

On a recent excursion to a nearby seaside town I was surprised and pleased to see a Ringed Plover confidently patrolling the pavements picking up scraps of food no doubt dropped y passing pedestrians. I watched for several minutes as it seemed unfazed by the strange bipedal creatures which shared its adopted feeding station. Eventually it it moved off, most likely in search of more dropped tasty morsels.
 
 http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=HMKWDLzsqaSehM&tbnid=uZRMrw18qClRbM:&ved=0CAQQjB0&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.birdforum.net%2Fopus%2FRinged_Plover&ei=LEUuUdDmFuXV4gSp04GYCQ&bvm=bv.42965579,d.d2k&psig=AFQjCNFX_kkgXM-6u31-Gteot6xJTJyx-Q&ust=1362073252914970


 Flights booked! my return to South Africa has picked up pace with the confirmation of my flight to Durban. I will be out there for a little over two weeks to work with some of the most endangered large carnivores on the planet the African Wild Dog. This is a project I am very excited about participating in and hopefully in some way contributing towards making a   difference in  the conservation of this most incredible predator.



Image taken by author

I was pleased to hear that the Zambian government has recently banned the trophy hunting of Leopards and Lions. The government received an income of 3 million dollars a year from the "sport" which was deemed not enough to justify the impact this has on wildlife. Tourism minister Sylvia Masebo had this to say "why should we lose our animals for 3 million dollars a year? the revenue we get from tourists is much higher".
Source BBC Wildlife magazine March 2013.

A source of amusement via Mathew Button

This is really funny have a look at this !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lOhvS-xyrA

And this as well I'm sure there are people out there that can relate to this !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0ffwDYo00Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0ffwDYo00Q

Thats all from me for this week untill the next time take it easy and thanks for reading,
George.

Honey Badgers, endangered reptiles and some humour as well.

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Hello and welcome to my latest blog with hopefully everyone is getting organised for Christmas with the festive period getting closer by the day! This week sees the start of a new section to my blog called "Ten Facts On" which starts with a look at one of my favourite animals the Honey Badger. The endangered species section investigates the plight of the Santa Catalina Island Rattlesnake and I also include a light hearted moment or two to finish the blog off. I hope you enjoy it and feel free to give feedback.

                             

 

 http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?hl=en&sa=X&tbo=d&biw=1024&bih=515&tbm=isch&tbnid=-o3vs-Be4-YXhM:&imgrefurl=http://www.kingsmillshotel.com/winter-warmer&docid=ll6z0530B7S-zM&imgurl=http://www.kingsmillshotel.com/images/stories/winter.jpg&w=2704&h=1764&ei=NLvMUPWQH6SM0wWxtYDYDQ&zoom=1

                                   Ten Facts On : Honey Badger Mellivora capensis.

1  Despite what their name suggests, when raiding the hives of Honey Bees, the Honey Badger prefers to feed on the nutritious Bee brood. Other recorded prey species include Scorpions, Insect Larvae, Beetles Lizards, Rodents, Birds, young Crocodiles, and Snakes including venomous species such as Adders, Mambas and Cobras. Jackals, Antelope, juvenile Foxes and Wild Cats are also taken.

2) Honey Badgers detect their prey mainly through their excellent sense of smell and digging, during a single foraging period, they are capable of digging up to 50 holes and over a 24 hour period, can cover over 40 km!

3 The home range of a male Honey Badger can be more than 500 km squared and can overlap over females and other males territories a females range  by contrast is much smaller varying from  100-150 km squared.

4) Honey Badgers studied in the Kalahari were observed to have a gestation period of 6-8 weeks and will typically give birth to no more than two cubs.

5)  The cubs of the Honey Badger are born naked and blind in a hole prepared by the female and are via the mouth, carried to a new den site every 2- 5 days.

6)  The Honey Badger belongs to the Mustelid family which includes 8 other species of Badger as well as Otters, Weasels and Wolverines.

7) After man, the Honey Badger is thought to cause the highest amount of destruction to Honey Bees by a mammalian predator in Africa, this leads to inevitable conflict between farmers and Honey Badgers.

8) Although they are not classed as Endangered by the IUCN redlist, Honey Badgers to face levels of persecution especially outside of protected areas. Their pelts are targeted because of their reputation for being brave and fearless, they are also targeted for traditional medicine and bush meat. Honey Badgers also fall victim to poisoning and trapping intended for animals such as Black - backed Jackals Canis mesomelas .

9) The Honey Badgers scientific name Mellivora means honey eater of the Cape due to their diet preferences and as a result of this being the place they were first described, "The Cape of Good Hope South Africa".

10) Although excellent predators, Honey Badgers are opportunistic and will scavenge on kills made by other predators and have even been known to raid bins at campsites.

All information sourced from http://www.honeybadger.com/index.html

http://www.informafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/honeybadger-ratel.jpg

       Endangered Species : Santa Catalina Island Rattlesnake Crotalus catalinensis.

The future of the Santa Catalina Island Rattlesnake is extremely uncertain, classed as critically endangered by the IUCN, there is no doubt that this species is in a major crisis and faces an uphill battle to survive.

As the name suggests, this species of snake is endemic along with another six species of reptile to the island of Santa Catalina off the coast of Loreto, Mexico. The Island is made up of numerous rocky hillsides and dry creeks otherwise known as arroyos. The Santa Catalina Rattle snake prefers arroyos with dense vegetation however will also inhabit rocky and scrubby hillsides and can even occasionally be found in areas of sandy soil. The species is almost exclusively nocturnal and 70 percent of its diet is made up of the only ground living mammal on the island the also endemic Santa Catalina Deer Mouse Peromyscus slevini.

There are several threats to this species of snake but by far and away the most serious is the persecution of the species through killing and illegally collecting them. Local fisherman it is claimed have been  tempted to take collectors to the island as they can potentially earn as much money through these trips as they do a week of solid fishing. It's naturally gentle and passive nature means the species is an easy catch.  A population of feral cats which have since been eradicated, certainly contributed to putting a large dent in an already fragile population, as numerous signs of predation would confirm. Finally the species dependence on one particular prey item leaves it vulnerable and heavily reliant on the fortunes of a species that make up a large percentage of its diet.

Eradicating cats from the island is undoubtedly a start but such is the fragile grip on survival the species clings to, unless further research and conservation action is taken, we could once again be forced to resigning another species to the history books.

     

Information found in this article was taken from the IUCN.

 http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Santa+Catalina+Island+Rattlesnake+&view=detail&id=EB38BC0A4ABBFF74264C473EEBE973DF71D683F9

                                          Finally from myself a small bit of amusement.

I hope you have enjoyed my blog this week, I leave you with a light hearted look at the Natural World. Until next week goodbye and thanks for reading,

George.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQ1HKCYJM5U

A name like the weather and one of the rarest carnivores on the planet.

Hello everyone I hope you have had a good week even with the appalling weather we have been forced to suffer recently. This week’s blog sees the conclusion of Owl month, followed by my endangered species section, this time focusing on one of my favourite animals and one that I have been lucky enough to see in the wild, the African Wild Dog. As well as this I conclude my blog with a couple of light hearted clips of footage which have caught my attention over the past week. So I start off with my usual Owl section this time on the Snowy Owl, as always I hope you enjoy the blog and feel free to give feedback.

                                                        

                                       Snowy Owl  Bubo scandiacus

The Snowy Owl is a rare visitor to Britain, and when it does visit is mainly is found in Northern Scotland, however there have been cases in recent years of Snowy Owls visiting Cornwall, Alderney and Guernsey (for full story see link below). The Snowy Owl has a wide distribution and can be more commonly found in the Arctic Tundra and open grassland and fields of North America. They are active from dawn till dusk and their size ranges with females usually larger than the male, the wingspan can be between 51 and 68.5cm, wingspan 137-164 cm and weight 1134-2000 g.  The diet of the Snowy Owl includes a wide variety of mammals and birds although through their Artic wintering range Lemmings and Voles make up a large percentage of their diet.  The breeding season occurs in May and clutch size depends on prey particularly Lemming abundance. Typically however they range from 5- 8 eggs however in years of high prey population, up to 14 can be laid at 2 day intervals, however if years when prey is scarce, some Snowy Owls may not nest at all.

                                   Five facts about Snowy Owls.

1) During hot weather Snowy Owls can thermo regulate by panting and spreading their wings.

2) As a result of Snowy Owls not hunting near their nests, birds such as Snow Geese take advantage of this by nesting near them and benefiting from the Owls chasing away predators such as Foxes.

3) Snowy Owls will defend their nests fiercely and may attack potential threats up to 1 kilometre away.

4) A nesting Owl requires 2 Lemmings a day and a family of Snowy Owls may consume as many as 1, 500 Lemmings before the young Owls fledge the nest.

5) The Snowy Owl has many alternative names including the Artic Owl, Great White Owl and Ghost Owl.

All information for this section was sourced from The Owl Pages.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/4240110/Three-snowy-owls-spotted-in-UK.html


http://www.owlpages.com/image.php?image=species-Bubo-scandiacus-2

                    Endangered Species : African Wild Dog Lycaon pictus

I remember the first time I saw an African Wild Dog, it's a memory that I will never forget and unless we are careful memories of its beauty and charismatic behaviour are all that will be left of this magnificent species.

The African Wild Dog is classed as endangered by the IUCN and is second only to the Ethiopian Wolf as Africa’s rarest large carnivore. Weighing between 17 and 36 kg, the African Wild Dog preys on predominantly medium sized Antelope such as Impala and Thompson's Gazelle, however prey size can range from anything as small as a Cane Rat to much larger Antelope such as Eland and Kudu. Being an intelligent and cooperative pack hunter, means that success rate percentages for packs have been recorded at 70 %. The species is also special because of its social structure which differs sharply in contrast to other species which live in social groups. Rather than the males integrating into a pack and the females staying together from pups, the opposite applies with the males staying together from birth. As well as this not only are the males all related to each other, the females which join the pack are also all related to each other, leading to two separate hierarchies one for each sex.  Only the highest ranking male and female will breed in the pack. Sexual maturity is reached at between 12 and 18 months, with a gestation period lasting between 60-80 days after which up to 19 pups born.

 As a result of their diminished range, African Wild Dogs are now found mainly in short grass plains, bushy savannah, semi desert, upland forest and open woodland. African Wild Dogs have now almost completely disappeared in West Africa and their numbers have been severely depleted in Central and North East Africa, even in areas where Wild Dogs are considered common, the chances are still slim of actually seeing them. 

 So what are the reasons why this beautiful animal is so endangered? The African Wild Dog is at risk of infectious diseases such as Canine Distemper and Rabies which as a result of human encroachment into their habitat continues, increases their chances of catching the diseases through domestic dogs. These can prove to be devastating to the already fragile populations of this species due to the social nature of the African Wild Dog. If one comes into contact with the disease it is highly to pass it on to other members of its pack, and it is not for all members of a pack to be completely wiped out by one of these diseases. Of course as well the disease risk, human encroachment has been severely reducing the suitable habitat of the species and with more and more roads being built through their habitat, their vulnerability to vehicles becomes much greater. Human persecution is another reason why this species population has been in such decline. Maligned incorrectly for being a serial killer of livestock, means that the African Wild Dog has been shot and poisoned relentlessly increasing severely the decline of this special animal. 

What is being done to protect this most iconic animal? Efforts are being made to change the local people’s perception of these predators and ways that both can peacefully co-exist are being explored.  Including encouraging land use planning to maintain and expand the Wild Dog populations. The AWF (African Wildlife Foundation) are conducting vital scientific research in Northern Kenya to help the species and encourage the public to donate if they can towards their research. Other organisations such as the Wildlife Conservation Society are also doing similar fine work in trying to raise awareness of the species as well as trying to minimise the risk of predator and livestock conflict. Eco tourism programmes which create an incentive for local communities to get on board are also making good progress.

The future for the species is in the balance, and we can play a large part in deciding their future, our generation has been lucky enough to have the opportunity to see these animals whether it be in the wild, zoos or on television I just hope that future generations will have the same opportunity’s to appreciate these quite magnificent animals.

                             


 Image taken by Author.

All information for this section was taken from the IUCN, Animal Info, the African Wildlife Foundation and the World Conservation Society.

For the full story on my African Wild Dog encounter, click on the label underneath the post saying “Wild Dogs".

                                Light hearted amusement.

This series always made me laugh! I hope you enjoy it.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4xzA3Oul1c

That’s it  for this week, I hope you liked it,

George.

A sound of the night and a reptile on the brink.

Hello everyone and welcome to my latest blog. I hope you have had a good week and with the weekend approaching you are looking forward to a well-earned rest! This week I talk about a sound I have heard often but the bird responsible for it has always eluded me and the case of a very rare reptile which faces a uncertain future. As always I hope you enjoy and feel free to give feedback on what you enjoy and what you would like to see improved.

                                                                A sound of the night.

It's late, and the daylight has long been replaced with the black of night, diurnal birds  have sought the sanctuary of a safe roosts well covered by dense vegetation hoping this will be enough to ensure their survival for another night. Suddenly an unmistakable sound which has many times woken me from my sleep pierces the darkness a sharp "kewick" is just one of many variations of vocalisation from the bird in question. That bird is the Tawny Owl, and it's calling in the woodland not far from our house again and it sounds like there is more than one. The more familiar owl noise now accompany it and it really is enjoyable to be able to listen to the secretive private life of the owl as it goes about its nocturnal business, terrorising unfortunate rodents which chose the wrong moment to break cover exposing themselves to the owls lethal talons.

I would love to be able to tell you how gracefully they fly in the wild, but I can't. As often as I have been woken up and kept awake by this nocturnal choir I have not once been privileged enough to catch a glimpse of this mysterious bird of prey.  When I look at the woodland the next morning I imagine where they might be and my main feeling is not disappointment at not yet seeing one, I do feel very grateful however to of been allowed an small insight into their world as natures schedules to not allow for outsiders, so maybe one day if I'm lucky I may just be in the right place at the right time.

                                            Five facts about Tawny Owls Strix aluco.

1)  Female Tawny Owls are 20 -40 % heavier than males and have a wingspan ranging from 5-10 % percent longer.

2) The Tawny Owl is the most common and widespread Owl in Europe (and still I have not seen one).

3) The Tawny Owl feeds on a large amount of rodents, but will also take small birds, frogs, insects and worms.

4) There are an estimated 19, 400 breeding pairs of Tawny Owls in the UK.

5)  An adult Tawny Owl has at least 10 different vocalisations and young individuals 5 different vocalisations.

                            Facts courtesy of the World Owl Trust and RSPB.

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=tawny+owl&view=detail&id=A0E7629B8F6795CE3962DEA7A309428937194015

                       Endangered Species : Orinoco Crocodile Crocodylus intermedius.

Powerful, prehistoric, intelligent and critically endangered are all words which describe the Orinoco Crocodile, and when crocodiles all over the world face various struggles to survive the knowledge that this species is ranked as one of the most endangered of all the crocodilian family is a stark indicator of the battle the species faces for survival.

Orinoco Crocodiles are found in Colombia and Venezuela inhabiting freshwater riverines in particular as the name suggests the Orinoco River. During the dry season as the water levels drop to very low levels, an example of the crocodiles ability to adapt and survive which has helped them to outlive the dinosaurs is demonstrated. By retreating into tunnels excavated in the river banks, they are able to find the small remaining areas of water enough to help them survive these tough times. Orinco Crocodiles diet varies in relation to size, for example juveniles feed mainly on small fish and invertebrates while adults take much larger prey including land mammals such as capybara as well as birds and larger fish.  During January and February which always coincides with the dry season,  holes are excavated for egg laying where anywhere between 15 and 70 eggs are laid. Such a large number of eggs may be at least partly because of the threat of Tegu Lizards and Vultures. The hatching of the eggs is timed perfectly with the arrival of the wet season and the inevitable rise of water levels.

So what threats face the Orinoco Crocodile? Yet again the recurring theme of human destruction is the main reason a species is in such trouble and this is the case for the Orinoco Crocodile. It's problems really started in the period of 1930-1960 where due to horrendous persecution for their skin which happened particularly in the driest parts of the year at their most vulnerable time due to the ease at finding them in their burrows. Their population has never really recovered from this and the threats which existed them still exist now adding to the already large number of problems facing the species. These include: illegal killing for meat, eggs being stolen, juveniles captured and sold on markets, teeth sold for medicine and of course habitat destruction which has reduced its range to a tiny proportion of what it formerly was. Competition for food and habitat with Caimans are now also causing more problems.

What is being done to help the species?  Currently preservation of suitable habitat is being undertaken in Venezuela, with reintroduction plans underway with further monitoring required. If the same could be done in Columbia to go alongside their experimental release programme these would be huge steps in the right direction. Stricter protection on the species itself against hunting needs to be undertaken however as with a population as restricted as the Orinoco Crocodiles is, every individual lost is a huge blow.

If we do not want to lose a species which belongs to a family of animals which have outlived the dinosaurs then dramatic, determined and prolonged measures need to be taken. If not then once again a species could be consigned to the history books, leaving us with the thoughts that we could have and should have done more to help.

 http://www.flickr.com/photos/crocroger/3515940387/

Facts in this article were sourced from the Crocodilian Species List.           

That is all from myself for another week, I really hope you enjoyed it and have a good weekend!

George.