Articles by Alex Taylor - Page 44

However, tourists pose a risk to the gorillas in the form of disease transmission. Mountain gorillas, who share 98.5% of our DNA, are extremely vulnerable to human disease, especially respiratory infections.

It amazed me how little mention there was of the impact population growth has on the species we share the planet with.

The Amazon river dolphin, also known as the pink dolphin, is the largest of the river dolphins. For over a decade their carcasses have been appearing on riverbanks recently in record numbers.

Within the reserve itself only eland, Grant’s gazelle and ostrich have shown any signs of recovery. Overall, the populations of impala, warthog, giraffe, Coke’s hartebeest and topi have declined by over 70%.

The idyllic island of Cyprus is the location of a yearly massacre of millions of birds. They are killed to supply upscale restaurants with a traditional Cypriot “delicacy” called ambelopoulia – boiled or pickled songbirds, usually swallowed whole as it is not cost effective to remove their entrails.

To see a group of male birds displaying at a lek, posturing and emitting their characteristic bubbling calls to attract the attention of the hens nearby, is to witness a true wildlife spectacle.

The Eccles put up a webcam, and now hundreds of viewers tune in every day to follow the lives of the birds, watching live hatchings and monitoring the chicks’ development.

Despite years of research, a cure has not been found, so scientists are desperately trying to relocate cancer-free animals to zoos or isolated areas.

By the time hunting was banned (albeit belatedly) in 1978, otters had vanished from everywhere except parts of the West Country and parts of Northern England.