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.

.

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.

Little by name, little by nature and the struggle of the Black Rhino.

Hello everyone and welcome to my latest blog. The weather really is closing in as we go deeper into the depths of winter! I am sitting writing this looking out the window at the large and numerous puddles and battered looking trees which serve as a reminder at the far from pleasant weather we have just been treated to, I hope you were not caught up in it. This week takes a look at Britain's smallest Owl appropriately named the Little Owl. My endangered species section looks at the problems facing the Black Rhino and a couple of other little nuggets of amusement and entertainment are included as well, as always I hope you enjoy it.

                                               

                                                          Little Owl Anthene noctura.

The Little Owl was first introduced to Britain in the nineteenth century, and is the smallest member of the Owl family to live in Britain. It is not unusual to see them in day light on top of telegraph poles and tree branches as they hunt during the day and night but can most be seen at dawn and in the night. The Little Owl can be most commonly found in the central, southern eastern regions of England as well as along the Welsh borders.

                                                          Five facts about Little Owls.

1)  Little Owls will often return to the same nest site year after year, one was even recorded using the same site for twenty five consecutive years.

2) Clutch size can be as many as six eggs at one given time which are laid in nests within hollow cavities.

3 Unsurprisingly, the vast majority of the Little Owls diet is carnivorous of which small rodents and insects make up a substantial amount. What is more surprising however is they have been recorded to also feed on plant material and berries.

4) When the Little Owl is agitated it bobs and moves from side to side. Its flight pattern is made up of a series of fast wing beats and looping glides.

5) It is estimated there are between 5,800 and 11, 600 pairs of Little Owls in Britain however the population is declining.

All information has been sourced from the Hawk and Owl Trust, BBC Nature and the RSPB.

http://www.wildanimalsonline.com/birds/littleowl-athenenoctua.jpg

Endangered Species: The struggle of the Black Rhinoceros Diceros bicornis.

I remember my first encounter with a Black Rhino in the wild; it was short, sharp and magnificent. I had flown from England to be part of a conservation team in South Africa and we had been given a few days to acclimatise and learn about our surroundings before the conservation work started. It was on a game drive when out of nowhere a clearly startled power house of an animal burst from the bushes not far in front of us. The speed in which it covered the ground to find its way into deeper bushveld meant I believe I am correct in thinking no one from our group had time to take a clear photograph. Sometimes perhaps the best moments in wildlife can be better appreciated without looking through a lense. We were lucky to catch another glimpse of the amazing animal before we left and we were all in no doubt how fortunate we had been to see such a rare and special sighting. So this is why this week I look further into the plight of the Black Rhino and see what the future may hold for this magnificent animal.

The Black Rhino or as it can otherwise sometimes be known as the Hook -Lipped Rhinoceros, is currently ranked by the IUCN as Critically Endangered.  Persecuted for its magnificent horns by poachers for Chinese medicine and to be made into weapons known as Yemen, as well as the constant threat of habitat destruction means that no more than five thousand Black Rhinos now remain in the wild. The fact the population has recovered at all from is a small miracle having crashed to a total of just 2,400 individuals at its lowest point, any increase in number is vital for contributing towards the survival of the species. 

Conservation efforts have helped to increase the population of the species and increase awareness of the desperate plight the Black Rhino faces. Organisations such as WWF have been particularly effective making the date 22nd of September “World Rhino Day" a great way of raising awareness. On top of this the concerted conservation from WWF, has resulted in numerous changes benefiting the species including ; expanding and improving the management of their protected areas as well as creating new ones, improving the security  monitoring of Black Rhinos as well as improving the enforcement of laws both locally and internationally to stop the trade in Rhino horns and other illegal wildlife items finally through effective tourism which provides vital funds for conservation work to continue.

Through the work of WWF and other organisations like it, the future of the Black Rhino does not look as desperate as it once did, however the work going on now must continue for many years to come if we want to avoid an already vulnerable population becoming an even smaller one or worse.

                                                     Five Facts about the Black Rhino.

1) The alternative name for the Black Rhino the Hook-Lipped Rhinoceros, was given to it unsurprisingly because of its hooked upper lip which is perfect for grasping small branches.

2) The gestation period of a Black Rhino is just over 15 months.

3) Black Rhinos are smaller than the White Rhino with males weighing up to 1,350 kg and females 900 kg, and at their maximum height can stand up to 1.6 metres tall at the shoulder.

4 Black Rhinos can run at 55km per hour, that’s  15 km faster than an Olympic 100 metre sprinter!

5) 90% of the diet of the Black Rhino is made up of fewer than 20 species of vegetation despite consuming up to 100 different species in a year’s worth of foraging.

All facts in this section were sourced from: WWF and   Save the Rhino.

       


http://www.animalspedia.com/images/wmwallpapers/Double-Time---Black-Rhino-1.jpeg

                           
                                                    A little bit of amusement.

Recently having a browse on YouTube I came across this, a very disobedient Secretary Bird! I found it quite funny and I hope you do to.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68BPPVVpN7s.


That is it from myself for this week, I hope you enjoyed the blog, have a good weekend,
George.