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Positive Wildlife News 2021

Discussion in 'Wildlife & Nature Conservation' started by UngulateNerd92, 10 May 2021.

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  1. UngulateNerd92

    UngulateNerd92 Well-Known Member Premium Member 5+ year member

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    Seahorses and sharks living in River Thames, analysis shows

    Zoological Society of London carries out most comprehensive survey since 1950s.

    Seahorses, eels, seals and sharks are living in the tidal Thames, according to the most comprehensive analysis of the waterway since it was declared biologically dead in the 1950s.

    But scientists from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), who carried out the work, warn that the 95 miles of the tidal Thames is suffering from rising nitrate levels as a result of industrial runoff and sewage discharges. Water levels and temperature are also rising as a result of global heating.

    On average, summer temperatures in the upper tidal Thames have been increasing by 0.19C a year since the turn of the century, the State of the Thames report said.

    https://amp-theguardian-com.cdn.amp...rks-living-in-river-thames-analysis-shows-aoe
     
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  2. UngulateNerd92

    UngulateNerd92 Well-Known Member Premium Member 5+ year member

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    Rare and endangered bird returns to Croatia after 200 years

    A northern bald ibis, which is a migratory bird found in barren, semi-desert or rocky habitats, landed in Grobničko polje near the city of Rijeka on Friday, immediately sparking interest from the media and the scientific community, Morski.hr reported.

    The bird is 70-80 cm long. When it hatches, the bald ibis has feathers on its head. But when he grows up, his feathers fall off and his head remains bare, which is why he got the name bald ibis. The rest of his body is covered with black feathers that have a copper-green and purple glow in the sun. The bald ibis has a red beak and red skin all over the body, except for the very top of the head. It has long feathers on the back of the neck, ptice.info describes it.

    The bird feeds on insects, lizards, and sometimes smaller mammals.

    Rare and endangered bird returns to Croatia after 200 years | Croatia Week
     
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    UngulateNerd92 Well-Known Member Premium Member 5+ year member

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    Chile’s burrowing parrot marks 35 years of a slow but successful recovery
    • The Chilean subspecies of the burrowing parrot used to be on the brink of extinction, with small fragmented populations scattered throughout the country.
    • Conservation measures adopted 35 years ago have now seen the number of parrots increase from 217 to nearly 4,500.
    • Key to this success has been the protection of one of the bird’s key habitats, Río de los Cipreses National Reserve, and the native plants it depends on for food.
    • Conservationists say they’re hopeful the burrowing parrot is on track to repopulating areas from where it has gone extinct; sightings have even been reported near Santiago, Chile’s capital.
    The story of Cristián Bonacic and Río de los Cipreses National Reserve is, in a way, a story of love at first sight: they “met” in the summer of 1986, when Bonacic was studying veterinary medicine and the 38,000 hectares (93,900 acres) of foothills had not yet been officially declared a reserve. Since then, their lives have been intertwined.

    https://news-mongabay-com.cdn.amppr...-years-of-a-slow-but-successful-recovery/amp/
     
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    UngulateNerd92 Well-Known Member Premium Member 5+ year member

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    More Lynx Are Coming Soon To Washington’s Kettle Range

    This winter, the Kettle River Range in north-central Washington will be a little more wild.

    Biologists with the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation are working to slowly restore the elusive Canada lynx to its snowy habitat, where the animal has been listed as threatened on the Endangered Species List for more than 20 years.

    “I think any time you return an animal to an ecosystem where it has been removed from, you’re restoring a sense of balance to that ecosystem,”said Rose Piccinini, senior biologist with the Colville Tribe’s Fish and Wildlife Department.

    More Lynx Are Coming Soon To Washington's Kettle Range - Northwest Public Broadcasting
     
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    UngulateNerd92 Well-Known Member Premium Member 5+ year member

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    Massive cleanup transforms lower Ashtabula River

    A sediment cleanup and habitat restoration project have restored the lower two miles of the Ashtabula River and advanced efforts to get it de-listed as a Great Lakes Area of Concern.

    Description

    The Ashtabula River is one of Ohio’s most significant rivers, a biologically rich tributary of Lake Erie that supports 88 fish species. Decades of unregulated industrial and municipal waste discharges blanketed the last two miles of the river with a layer of toxic mud that contaminated aquatic life and disrupted navigation. The lower river was declared a Great Lakes Area of Concern in 1985 and the Ohio Department of Health posted signs in 1997 warning anglers to limit their consumption of fish caught in that stretch of the river. The Ashtabula River RAP/Partnership in 1988 began working to bring about a cleanup of the beleaguered river.

    Resource Challenges Addressed
    • Contaminated sediments
    • Loss of fish and wildlife habitat
    • Contaminated fish
    • Shoals that prevented ships from reaching parts of the harbor
    Massive cleanup transforms lower Ashtabula River - Healing Our Waters Coalition
     
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    UngulateNerd92 Well-Known Member Premium Member 5+ year member

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    UngulateNerd92 Well-Known Member Premium Member 5+ year member

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    Last edited: 28 Nov 2021
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    UngulateNerd92 Well-Known Member Premium Member 5+ year member

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    After sprawl drove them away, San Diego burrowing owls get new homes at Ramona Grasslands

    Small rare owls are getting a new home on the Ramona Grasslands Preserve, after decades of urban sprawl nearly eliminated them from San Diego County.

    Last winter the San Diego Habitat Conservancy introduced 24 burrowing owls to their new digs on the preserve through a reintroduction project with the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research and state and federal resource agencies.

    The breeding pairs honeymooned in artificial burrows, and guarded over clutches of eggs until the chicks hatched, adding the next generation of owls to an area where they had all but disappeared.

    https://www-sandiegouniontribune-co...-homes-after-sprawl-drove-them-away?_amp=true
     
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    UngulateNerd92 Well-Known Member Premium Member 5+ year member

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    New Mexico Wildlife gets $291,000 boost

    The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and its partners awarded $291,406 in grant funding to improve wildlife habitat, bolster scientific research and assist hunting heritage projects in New Mexico. RMEF contributed $59,000 and leveraged an additional $232,406 in partner dollars.

    The 11 projects benefit Catron, Lincoln, McKinley, Sandoval, San Juan, San Miguel, Santa Fe, Sierra and Socorro Counties as well as New Mexico and parts of Arizona.

    https://www.rmef.org/elk-network/new-mexico-wildlife-gets-291000-boost/
     
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    UngulateNerd92 Well-Known Member Premium Member 5+ year member

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    Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Partners provide $3.3 million for Oregon Conservation Projects

    The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and its partners allocated $3,354,581 of grant funding to enhance wildlife habitat, scientific research and hunting heritage projects in Oregon. RMEF contributed $189,305 and leveraged an additional $3,165,276 in partner dollars.

    “So much good will come from this funding across nearly 4,500 acres of elk habitat including noxious weed treatment, installing wildlife-friendly fencing and aspen, meadow, wetland and grassland restoration work,” said Blake Henning, RMEF chief conservation officer. “There are also three important research projects that will help shape the future of elk management as well as a number of projects that support and promote hunting.”

    The conservation work will benefit Benton, Clackamas, Coos, Crook, Curry, Deschutes, Douglas, Grant, Harney, Jackson, Josephine, Lane, Lincoln, Linn, Marion, Morrow, Multnomah, Polk, Shasta, Tillamook, Umatilla, Union, Wasco, Washington, Wheeler and Yamhill Counties. There are also several statewide projects.

    https://www.rmef.org/elk-network/rmef-partners-provide-3-3-million-for-conservation-projects/
     
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    UngulateNerd92 Well-Known Member Premium Member 5+ year member

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    New reserve for Kapitia skinks

    One hundred special skinks now have a safe new home with the establishment of DOC’s predator free Kapitia Scientific Reserve near Hokitika.

    The Kapitia skinks, found only in a 1 km coastal strip near Hokitika, were badly impacted by Cyclone Fehi in 2018 with 50 skinks taken in by Auckland Zoo at the time.

    The skinks have a salmon-coloured prehensile tail which they use to grip objects and help them climb. Researchers think they were adapted to climbing trees.

    DOC Hokitika Operations Manager Owen Kilgour says 42 of the skinks now in the reserve travelled back this week on an Air New Zealand flight from their temporary home at Auckland Zoo.

    New reserve for Kapitia skinks
     
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    UngulateNerd92 Well-Known Member Premium Member 5+ year member

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    You can’t see them to count them, but Amazonian manatees seem to be recovering
    • Following intense commercial hunting from the 1930s to the 1950s, scientists and community members are seeing signs that the manatee population in the Amazon is growing.
    • A study carried out in the Piagaçu-Purus Sustainable Development Reserve in the state of Amazonas shows large manatee populations nearby human communities, apparently co-existing in peace.
    • Threats still remain in the form of poaching and accidental capture; calves that are orphaned or injured in these incidents are taken to rehabilitation centers, but these are low on funding and overcrowded.
    • Monitoring of manatees returned to nature from these rehabilitation centers shows their work is paying off: one female being tracked since her return was later found to be pregnant.
    Diogo de Souza used to wake up at 3 a.m., stop by the house of a community member who knew about manatees, and the two began work among the carapanãs, the large Amazonian mosquitoes, as the sun came up. Sitting still in their wooden canoe under the scorching sun typical of the dry season, they watched for signs of the presence of Brazil’s largest freshwater mammal, which can grow to 3 meters (10 feet) in length and weigh 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds). How could an animal so large be so hard to see?

    https://news-mongabay-com.cdn.amppr...amazonian-manatees-seem-to-be-recovering/amp/
     
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    Last edited: 30 Nov 2021
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    World-renowned bird migration area in Saskatchewan to be protected by Nature Conservancy of Canada

    The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) in Saskatchewan is the new owner of a large section of endangered native grassland.

    The property contains 646 hectares (1,598 acres) of grasslands and wetlands and is located along the eastern shoreline of Chaplin Lake, between Moose Jaw and Swift Current.

    Temperate grasslands are one of the rarest and most at-risk ecosystems in the world and are a critical part of Saskatchewan.

    https://globalnews-ca.cdn.ampprojec...rd-migration-area-saskatchewan-protected/amp/
     
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    UngulateNerd92 Well-Known Member Premium Member 5+ year member

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    Conservation group purchases 35,000 acres in Gorge

    Timberland mainly in Klickitat County to be preserved for wildlife, outdoor recreation

    A large scattering of small pieces of timberland in the Gorge is under the ownership of a new group called the Conservation Fund. The new ownership plans to conserve and restore the beautiful lands accessible by hiking trails.

    Conservation group purchases 35,000 acres in Gorge
     
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    NFWF Announces $646,000 in Conservation Grants to Support Important Water-Dependent Species in the Southeast

    Four projects will assist in restoring and improving aquatic habitat within targeted watersheds

    The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) today announced $646,000 in grants that will restore and enhance aquatic habitats to protect imperiled native freshwater aquatic species in watersheds within Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee. The grants will generate $648,000 in matching contributions for a total conservation impact of nearly $1.3 million.

    NFWF Announces $646,000 in Conservation Grants to Support Important Water-Dependent Species in the Southeast
     
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    Finland approves establishment of Salla National Park

    The 10,000-hectare area in Lapland will become Finland's 41st National Park.

    Finland's Parliament on Tuesday approved a government proposal to establish Sallatunturi National Park in Finnish Lapland.

    The approximately 10,000-hectare area of diverse ecology is located along the country's northeastern border with Russia, in close proximity to the Sallatunturi Nature Reserve, and will become Finland's 41st national park.

    The initiative to establish the park originated from within the municipality itself, with MP and Environment Committee member Mari-Leena Talvitie (NCP) telling Parliament's plenary session that cooperation with local agencies and organisations has progressed smoothly.

    Finland approves establishment of Salla National Park
     
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    Colorado voters typically reject tax hikes. There’s an exception when it comes to funding parks and trails.

    Open space advocates hope the recent support for protection of outdoor spaces is not a pandemic blip but a border-to-border commitment to conservation.

    Last year was a banner year for voters across the country approving taxes that protected open spaces, parks and public land. There were 51 conservation funding measures on ballots last year and voters approved 50 of them, creating a flow of more than $3.7 billion for the climate, open space and parks for the next two decades.

    It was a high-water mark for conservation funding.

    Colorado voters approved record conservation funding again this year for parks, trails and open spaces
     
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    Okaloosa Darter saved from extinction

    Federal officials this week announced a major conservation milestone for the once-endangered Okaloosa Darter. The small fish that inhabits streams mostly located on Eglin Air Force Base is now being proposed for delisting.

    “Today, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to remove the Okaloosa Darter from the federal endangered species list,” said Shannon Estenoz, U.S. Department of Interior Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, making the the announcement Tuesday near Anderson Pond on Eglin property, which is home to much of the Okaloosa Darter population.

    “There are only two ways off the list. Once you’re on the list, there are only two ways off. Either you go extinct or you recover, and the first, of course is a tragedy and the second is a triumph, so I’m really excited to be here to celebrate this triumph and moment for the darter and everyone who’s been working so long.”

    Okaloosa Darter saved from extinction
     
    Last edited: 2 Dec 2021
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