51 Articles found tagged with “population”.
This species is restricted to riparian areas in Russia, China, Japan and possibly North Korea, and it now has been revealed that they are a key indicator of the health of the primary forests in which they live.
With only approximately 6,000 snow leopards left in the wild, time is running out.
Small populations survived in Wales and areas of northern England at very low densities, but the only viable populations left could be found in the North West Highlands of Scotland where persecution pressures were less.
Poachers are decimating their populations to sell ivory to markets in the Far East. The lesser sized, and lesser known, African forest elephants however are also on the brink of becoming poached out of existence.
Last year was the UK’s second wettest year on record and although the high rainfall has benefited some species, 2012 was the worst year for butterflies since scientific monitoring began in 1976.
This is an animal that can grow up to 6 feet long, can weigh up to 2,000 pounds, can dive to depths of nearly 4,000 feet and migrates more than 7,000 miles
As well as scales, pangolins are also hunted for their meat, considered to be “delicious” by some, a pound of which can sell for hundreds of US dollars. Unborn pangolin foetuses are also eaten as a delicacy, often found in soups.
Scientists at Duke University reported that more than two-thirds of lions in Africa have disappeared in the last 50 years. Rapid human population growth, and all the threats to wildlife that this brings with it, has reduced both lion populations and the savannah in which they live.
Once this population was connected all along the mountain range, but now their population is fragmented. They are isolated from each other and, as a result, are vulnerable to the long-term risks of inbreeding, such as birth defects and infertility.
Last December, a group of intrepid Antarctic explorers located a colony of emperor penguins that had never been seen before by humans.