Bringing you the latest articles, opinion and analysis in the conservation world
The jarring from which they take their name, more commonly referred to as churring – an eerie, mechanical sort of noise that’s straight out of a science fiction film, and possibly the strangest noise I’ve ever heard coming from a bird.
In 1982, the population numbered just 22 individuals, but now that figure has risen to around 400, thanks to captive breeding and release programmes.
In 1986, the IWC adopted a moratorium on commercial whaling, but many nations including Japan and Russia oppose this.
Chris Foster talks about the Mandarin Duck and Mistle Thrush as part of his A to Z of British Birds series.
For the last 40 years, this 5 foot-long, 200 lb tortoise lived on Santa Cruz Island at the Charles Darwin research centre in the Galapagos Islands, having been moved from Pinta when he was first discovered in 1972.
The dormouse has become a rare species, one that is highly vulnerable to extinction.
What hadn’t been apparent to me was how much of a difference ringing can make to your abilities as a fieldworker and as a biologist, and what an impressive addition the training (or better yet a full license) can be to a CV or application.
Not only are they uncommon in much of England and Wales (and absent entirely from Scotland and Ireland), but they’re hard to find even where they do occur, being secretive birds that can range over large areas.
Australia has made history by declaring that they will create the world’s largest network of marine parks.
Groups such as the RSPB welcomed the decision, especially since buzzard populations were once so low in this country.