Welcome to the fifth issue of The Realm magazine! In this issue read about possibly one of the best bird of prey centres in the UK at Andover's Hawk Conservancy Trust and discover those invertebrates that have taken to the air. Following the release of SharkWater on DVD, read our review of this film that gives an insight into sharks and the perils they and those fighting to protect them face. With spring well underway, this is the time of year when animal rescue centres are flooded with calls from the well-meaning public over young animals that appear to be abandoned - check out ourquick guide to find out what to do if you think you are dealing with an orphaned animal.
CONTENTS
A Day at the Hawk Conservancy Trust
Nature News - May
The top nature news stories over the past month.
There is hope for the African Wild Dog - the second most endangered carnviore in Africa - yet. A new conservation project is attempting to establish new packs in South Africa, including in the Venetia Limpopo Nature Reserve. The land was bought by De Beers to safeguard their water pipeline to a diamond mine, who then decided to also dedicate the area to nature conservation.
Six critically endangered blue iguanas have been found butchered in a nature preserve. There are thought to be only around 10 blue iguanas surviving outside the park.
Three familes of the critically endangered pygmy hog are to be released back into the wild in a reintroduction programme aiming to boost their numbers. The worlds smallest pig, they were onvce common across India, Nepal and Bhutan but was thought to be extinct in the 1960's until they were rediscovered in Assam, India where the reintroduction is taking place.
It turns out that wild sloths aren't so sleepy, spending an average of 9.6 hours asleep rather than the 16 hours recorded from a studyof captive sloths.
The polar bear has been listed as threatened by the USA, however this will not lead to measures to reduce the main threat to the bears - global warming.
Iceland's whale hunt is to resume again this year with a quota of 40 minke whales.
New monitoring equipment has shown pilot whales sprinting after prey in the deep sea reaching speeds that were thought to be impossible with the whales having to hold their breath on these deep dives. Yet the whales were reaching top speeds of around 20mph and one of their targets may even have been the giant squid!
Winter the Dolphin is the worlds first bionic sea creature after being fitted with a prosthetic tail. She lost her tail at around 2 months old after being caught in a crab trap.
Survival in the Mountains
The earth is constantly changing and on the move. Floating on a sea of molten rock, continents shift, spreading and colliding. Where they spread, magma rises up from beneath the crust creating new land, where they collide the immense forces force land upwards creating mountain ranges. Rising up from the earth, the temperature decreases as altitude increases. But why is this? The sun heats the Earth from the ground upwards - the heat being emitted from the earths surface rather coming directly from the sun itself. This heat is quickly lost with altitude - as much as 3 degrees Celsius for each 300 metres and so the conditions at a mountains peak can be one of snow and ice, even if at it's base it is shrouded in tropical rainforest.
Such changes drive animals and plants to adapt to the conditions within certain limits - or microhabitats - on the mountain slopes. However, this isn't the only reason for the variety of species on mountain ranges. As the earth cooled, species from higher latitudes moved towards the tropics. The following warming period forced them back, but some found islands of suitable habitats on the slopes of mountains. There they stayed, their distribution moving up or down the mountains in relation to shifts in the climate. Eventually over time, these isolated populations unable to reach neighbours on other mountains become different from those elsewhere. They become endemic to that specific area.
Such is the case of the Snowdonia Hawkweed (Hieracium snowdoniense). This small, yellow plant lives only in Wales, with only one known plant still alive. Overgrazing of sheep on the mountain slopes on which this plant lives saw their numbers decline and until recently they were thought to be extinct until they were rediscovered following the outbreak of foot and mouth disease, which saw grazing pressure on the mountains drop giving the plant a chance to flower and grow.
With resources on mountains already limited, additional grazing for livestock can be devastating for wildlife including one of the most charismatic of mountain species - the elusive snow leopard. These big cats live on the Himalayas. Such is the vastness of the snow leopards territory and so widely dispersed is their prey that these big cats are among the hardest to find in their mountain habitat. Their thick coat both provides camouflage and protects them from the biting cold, their long tails acting as both a balance and a rudder. They are so agile that they are more than capable of running down almost vertical rock faces in chase of prey. They need to be, for their prey is just as suitably adapted to this environment as they are.
Ibex are a wild mountain goat, and a common prey of the snow leopard. Their short legs and small hooves make them excellent at negotiating steep mountain sides to escape from predators and move to areas where there is food. To survive, the goats are able to survive on almost any plants that grow in these desolate landscapes. Autumn sees the start of the breeding season for the rams. These are equipped with horns that are considerably larger than those of the females. Their purpose is to deter rivals and establish who is the boss and will win mating rights for the season. However, display alone sometimes isn't enough to settle that argument. When two equally sized males meet and neither is prepared to back down, there is only one option left and that is a ramming contest. On the steep mountainsides, the two rams lock horns chasing each other up and down the mountain each trying to gain height above the other and knock his opponent off balance. A fall could easily result in death of one of them, and should they survive predators like snow leopards are always waiting in the wings for an easy target.
Summer is short, and so the moss campion (Silene acaulis), like all alpine plants must flower and set seed as quickly as possible. Through the long winter months, these plants survived below the ground waiting for the first increase in temperatures to indicate the approach of spring. Before the snow has even started to melt, these plants burst into life using the energy stored in rhizomes. For a few months, the mountain landscape blooms, becoming filled with colour from the blossoming flowers dotted across the landscape. Where there are flowers, there are insects that emerge to feast on the rich nectar the flowers supply and they in turn carry pollen from one plant to another. For the insects too though, the race is on to produce offspring before the cold of winter returns once more, and their success will influence the success of those species that depend on them. In the Cairngorms, Ring Ouzels arrive in the spring to breed on the mountain slopes to raise their young on the feast of insects that appear with the bloom of these flowers. Though it may appear suicidal, these members of the thrush family often nest in close proximity to where golden eagles nest. Though it may seem like madness, there is a good cause for this behaviour as the eagles act as a deterrent to birds of prey such as merlins and peregrines that would otherwise be a threat to both the adults and their chicks.
Though they have their own chicks to raise, golden eagles watch out for a different kind of prey such as the mountain hares that graze the landscape. In winter, the fur of the hare turns white with only the black tips to their ears remaining, but in the spring this coat is lost for it would leave the hare an easy to spot target amongst the greens and browns of the landscape once the snow has gone. Yet even with their camouflage, a hunting eagle is still able to spot a hare from a great distance. The hare though is not an easy target. When threatened, the hares first instinct is to freeze and only when the predator draws close does the hare use its long, powerful legs to make an escape. At this point, the hare has two options. To run downhill, where the eagle can follow and stand a chance of catching the hare, or to run uphill which results in the eagle being unable to follow. Amongst vegetation though, the hare has another means of escaping the predator. Once spotted, simply cowering beneath the leaves won't avoid the talons of the eagle for the bird remains fixed on where the hare was. If the hare stays where it is, the eagle can come crashing through the cover to catch it. However, the hare can make its escape by moving slowly through the vegetation so that when the eagle lands where it had been, it simply gets a talon-full of leaves rather than the meal it was hunting for.
Fortunately for the eagle though, not every hare gets away. Their hungry chicks are dependant upon the parents finding enough food. Golden eagles pair for life, and after a dramatic mating ritual where the two lock talons and plummet from the sky, the female will lay two eggs in their nest, which is known as an eyrie. The eggs are laid a few days apart, but incubation of the first egg starts straight away and so one chick hatches before the other and by the time the second egg hatches is already larger than its sibling. Yet the pair are only likely to be able to raise one chick. The second egg is, in most cases, just an insurance policy should the first egg fail to hatch. Only in very good years will the pair be able to raise two chicks, but most of the time the smaller chick will starve. However, it won't go to waste instead it will provide more food for its larger sibling. In this harsh environment, every little advantage counts.
A Day at the Hawk Conservancy Trust
Just a few miles from the town of Andover in Hampshire is the Hawk Conservancy Trust. Founded in 1966 originally as a zoo, the centre switched to specialising in birds of prey at the end of the 1970's and from there the collection of birds at the trust has grown. Today, there are over 150 residents at the trust and around 200 wild birds passing through the doors of their specially built hospital and rehabilitation are, many successfully being returned to the wild. However, for the birds that end up confiscated having being illegally smuggled into countries a return to the wild is not such an easy matter and many never return to their home countries as a result of fears of disease and parasites that might have been picked up on their journey.
However, the trust runs captive breeding projects and these birds can be integrated into these creating a captive population of their species. For the Oriental White Backed Vulture, this may be essential to their future. These vultures, like many others in Asia and elsewhere, have declined dramatically asa result of the drug Diclofenac that is given to livestock to prevent disease. In the vultures, which scavange from the carcasses of dead animals, this drug causes kidney failure and death. Now only a handful of thesecritically endangered birds remain...and even these last birds are disappearing rapidly. If the present trend continues it could be just a few years before these vultures become extinct in the wild. As a result, those at the trust are being bred in captivity in the hopes that one day their descendants will be able to be re-released into the wild once the drug that is killing off their wild relatives has been taken out of the system.
The trust also works with other conservation projects. They released captive bred red kites into the wild around the centre in one of the many reintroduction projects around the UK and have since seen these beautiful birds of prey return to the skies around Andover and the neighbouring area and with the Imber Conservation Group they have set up nest boxes for barn owls. Along with a number of other conservation projects, the trust is helping to safeguard the future of many birds of prey around the world and at the centre visitors are given a glimpse of this work.
A day out there is really a proper day out with three bird flying displays and a variety of other things going on. Starting the day with the vulture feed, visitors can see these scavanging birds squabbling over a carcass and find out more about the vultures that are there living at the trust as well as whatis happening to those vultures in the wild. Then there is the introduction to the other birds of prey - the hawks, falcons and owls with the first flying display of the day. The intelligent caracara shows off their skills in finding food, pulling over rocks and overturning obstacles in the search for food. The Lanner falcon shows their speed and power while the barn owl - as always - charms the audience. Later in the day the most powerful raptors come out to show off their skills - the eagles. A pool provides an opportunity for an African Fish Eagle to show-off their fishing skills grabbing bits of food from the water and the tribe of black kites soar in the air as music plays along with turkey vultures. Just watch your head as these birds fly past! And onto the finale...the arrival of the American bald eagle that arrive in time to music having been taken a few miles from the centre to give them a chance to gain lift. Later on in the day it is time to retreat to the woodland where the owls are shown off in their natural habitat including a little owl and a tawny owl, along with the beautiful Brahminy kite. And between these displays, try and get a chance to see the other birds at the centre, and maybe grab a quick snack or drink in the coffee shop.
Let's not forget the wild red kites that live in the area...while I was there one was flying overhead while the black kites were flying in the Valley of the Eagles display, but the best red kite sighting didn't come from within the centre grounds...while turning out onto the main road flying opposite just above the trees was a red kite! A fairwell flyby from a wild red kite - a perfect ending to the day.
If you are heading to the South of England, leave a day free to spend here it is well worth the visit. If you aren't heading for that area, start planning a trip there!
Photo Gallery: The Black Kite
These black kite photos were taken at the Hawk Conservancy Trust near Andover, Hampshire.
The Invertebrates - Taking to the Air
The Carboniferous period 360-310million years ago saw the rise of the flying insects. During this time oxygen levels in the atmosphere were far higher than they currently are today. Insects and other invertebrates rely on a system of tubes to carry oxygen to their muscles through diffusion. A simple process but one that limits the maximum size to which the insects can grow. In this period, the high levels of oxygen meant that insects could grow to sizes far larger than they are today. Among them were the dragonflies - predatory insects that still patrol the lakes and waterways to this day. With wingspans of as much as 70cms these dragonflies dwarfed their modern cousins. Powerful fliers, they hunted over the swamps and through the forests of the Carboniferous catching other insects on the wing.
All around, other insects were starting to flourish but it wasn't until the Jurassic period that one of the invertebrates most important relationships began - with flowers. Until the Jurassic, plants reproduced by having their pollen and seeds blown on the wind but flowering plants opened another avenue for plants to reproduce. Insects became carriers of pollen from one flower to another providing a more efficient method of transporting pollen rather than one that was entirely dependant on the wind. As a reward, the plants provide the insects with sweet nectar. Now insects are the primary pollinators for most flowers and this has resulted in some relationships where the flower can only be pollinated by one species of insect, and the insect can only feed on one species of plant.
Other insects also appeared, ones that didn't sip nectar from plants but instead took advantage of those that did. These were the predators and parasites of the insect world and among them were the wasps. While many wasps are active hunters killing other insects to feed their ever-hungry grubs in their hives, other species parasitize other insects. The female uses a special egg-laying tube known as an ovipositor to inject her eggs into the body of a still-living insects. These eggs hatch inside the body of their hosts, slowly eating them from the inside out until the grub emerges from the host as an adult. Just about every insect has a parasite that specalises on it - and those parasites even have parasites of their own.
At some point in their history, wasps turned to living on the ground. Over time, they lost their wings and these wingless wasps evolved into ants. Modern ants live in colonies, some that contain millions of individuals. While some ants are farmers, gathering leaf matter on which to grow fungi upon which the feed, others are voracious predators.
Perhaps the most dangerous are the siafu, the African driver ant. Unlike the South American army ants, the siafu are capable of taking down animals much larger than themselves. Even people are not immune to these ants when they are on a hunting mission. Though potentially deadly, these ants do an effective job of ridding farmland and villages of pests. Even rats and mice will flee when an hoard of siafu start to approach as these can easily become food for the hungry larvae.
Continued in the next issue of The Realm...
DVD Review - SharkWater
They have survived five mass extinctions including the one that killed off the dinosaurs, but now sharks are directly under threat - from mankind. But is isn't just the sharks that are in danger, the very people that are fighting to save them are also threatened as is revealed in this beautiful but also shocking documentary. Filmmaker and shark enthusiast Rob Stewart sets out to film sharks, but it ends up in a conflict between the filmmakers and the shark finning mafia that send them death threats for challenging a shark finning vessel in Costa Rica and threatening their illegal trade in shark fins. What is worse, the Costa Rican government takes the side of these violent ocean terrorists the crew being threatened with arrest and jail forcing them to flee to the safety of international waters. However, news of this sent the people of Costa Rica up in arms over the shark finning that was occuring in there waters, standing up for the sharks that were being slaughtered in their thousansd for their fins ultimately changing the fate of the sharks in their territorial waters. Illegal fishing goes on, but as more people turn against these devestating practices the more sharks will be saved. The more people that become aware of what is going on out there in the oceans, of the devestation these illegal fishing practices are doing not just to sharks but other marine animals from sailfish to turtles, cetaceans and sealions, the bigger the impact will be on getting governments to change their attitudes. This documentaryshows sharks for what they really are - beautiful marine predators, an victims of a ruthless trade that threatens their very existance.
Beautiful footage of sharks is coupled with distressing images of their demise - including a shark thrashing in the ocean, still alive, after having its fins cut off while still alive. This is not a fuilm that hides the truth - and perhaps that is for the best for it reveals what is really going on out there in the oceans and what is happening to the oceans top predator, a vital part of the marine ecosystem. Without sharks the entire system will collapse - and so too would the fisheries for everything is connected.
Whether you're already a shark enthusiast or terrified of these sleek marine predators, I'd reccommend this film. Perhaps it will allow you to see a different side to sharks, the vulnerable side. It is time the Jaws myths died their final dealth and the truth about sharks rises to the surface. These are not man-eating predators, very few people are bitten by sharks each year and very few of these end up fatal. Far more sharks are killed by man, they are the ones that should fear us, not the other way around. In the time it takes to watch the film, around 15,000 sharks are killed either deliberately for their fins or as accidental bycatch. Sharks are now declining rapidly and unless things change, they could vanish for good and with them goes 400 million years of history.
The truth will surface - and it certainly does in this compelling film.
Abandoned?
Every year thousands of baby birds are taken into wildlife centres by people thinking that they have been abandoned. More often than not, that won't be the case and the parents will simply have left theit youngster while they go out foraging for food. Many birds fledge the nest before they can fly leaving their crowded nests and spreading out. This helps reduce the chance that all of the chicks will be taken by predators. The parents will know where their offspring are and will usually return to feed them. So what should you do if you suspect you have found an abandonded baby animal?
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Firstly, and most importantly, it is essential to find out if the youngster has indeed been abandoned. Hand rearing a baby animal is a difficult and time consuming process requiring special care and feed and this uses up a lot of resources of wildlife centres so it is vital to ensure that the young animal has been abandoned by the parents.
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Be patient - unless the youngster is in obvious danger leave it alone and watch from a distance to see if the parents return if you listen closely, you may even hear contact calls between parent and young. Be aware that your presence can keep a parent away from their offspring so stay well away.
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Only if the young bird has been alone for several hours should you intervene.
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So you think you have a young animal that has really been abandoned?
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Don't try to raise a baby animal yourself. Too much human contact can result in an animal that can never be returned to the wild. Contact your local wildlife rescue centre and leave them to raise the abandoned animal.
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The parents have been returning but the chick is in danger. What should you do?
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Where a young animal is under threat from traffic, cats etc move it to cover close by so that the parents can still find it. Human scent on fledglings does not stop parent birds from returning to their young and as long as the chick is still in the area the parents will find it.
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Sometimes young birds can fall from the nest before fledging - in this case the youngsters will still be covered in soft downy feathers that don't provide the youngster with protection from the weather. In these cases if possible, replace the chick in the nest the parents should continue to feed itas normal. If you can't locate the nest then the chick may need to be hand reared by your local wildlife centre - contact them for advice.
Other animals can also be found appearing to be abandoned including fox cubs, but again the parents will usually return. Young fox cubs will start wandering from their dens at about 4 weeks old. If you find a young fox, or any other baby mammal, alone the best course of action issimply to leave it alone unless showing obvious signs of injury. A number of mammals such as deer, hares and rabbits only return to their young a couple of times a day for just a few minutes when it is quiet and there is no one around.'
REMEMBER: In most cases the young animal will not have been abandoned and the parents will be nearby. Only if you are 100% sure that you are dealing with an orphaned animal should you intervene. The parents do a better job of raising their young than any human can.
ACT NOW!
Save Hong Kongs Seas
Hong Kong's waters were once abundant with marine life, including 80 species of hard coral and around 1,000 species of fish including Sharks, Manta rays and Green turtles.
But today this once magnificent marine environment is suffering from pollution, development and overfishing. Things have got so bad that certain species are now heading towards extinction...
Take action HERE
You can keep any eye on all the latest campaigns on the forum The Realm of Nature
Comments & Letters
Feel free to leave us comments on this issue of The Realm - and suggestions as to what you would like to see in the magazine in the future.
We are always looking for new writers and contributors to The Realm magazine. All nature related articles are welcome so if you would like to add your contribution find out more on The Realm Of Nature forum or by e-mailing me at therealmofnature@hotmail.com