Rewilding the World

I got a really interesting question from a Facebook friend and fellow rhino-lover in Amsterdam. She writes: “What would be the impact on the world ecologically if a complete species like the rhino were to go extinct?”

 

My mind immediately leapt to the fascinating phenomenon of rhino latrines. Rhinos don’t poop just any  Read More 

Sad update to Rewilding the World: The spectacular Ndumo Game Reserve, a jewel of South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal region and and an internationally-protected wetland, once home to extraordinary birdlife, hippos, and crocodiles, has been invaded by neighboring people, angry that promised government aid and reparations for land-grabs have never materialized.  Read More 

Maybe so...Check out the possibilities in today’s report at Yale Environment 360.

 

Then on your bike, as the Brits say, and start posting buds (Project BudBurst) and counting squirrels (yes, Project Squirrel): Citizen Science starts at home.

Alert hiker Joe Sebille captured the first photos of a grizzly in Washington’s North Cascades National Park in nearly a half-century. Hiking last October, Sebille snapped the bruin with a point-and-shoot and only realized recently, on showing the pic to a park ranger, the momentous nature of his encounter.

 

And, in further carnivorous  Read More 

Apologies for the prolonged absence: We were off chuntering about biodiversity in foreign lands and what not. But now we’re back, and there’s lots to catch up on:

 

*Some good news from the Serengeti! After a recent visit from US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Tanzania announced that it would give up  Read More 

Lorene Mills, host of “Report from Santa Fe,” a long-running public affairs show that airs throughout New Mexico, interviews Caroline Fraser, author of Rewilding the World. The conversation ranges from rewilding efforts around the world to local conflicts over the Mexican gray wolf. See it April 14-16 on these stations  Read More 

My report at Yale Environment 360 on Japanese activists’ long battle against one nuclear power plant, slated to be built on landfill in a national park.

That’s the word on the USDA Forest Service’s new draft planning rule on forests, dubbed a rule for the “21st Century” since the last one dates back to 1982 and the Reagan administration. Open for public comment until May 16, the proposal has been praised for emphasizing ecological restoration and a landscape-scale approach to  Read More 

Tanzania’s president Jakaya Kikwete continues to insist that his country will build a 34-mile highway across the Serengeti, against the advice of the World Bank, conservationists, scientists, and the tourism industry in his own country. Most biologists believe that the road will fragment and ultimately destroy the most critically-important, intact, and lucrative migratory  Read More 

And not just any book: Moon Bear, a delightful children’s book by Brenda Z. Guiberson, with dramatic, inventive illustrations by Caldecott medalist Ed Young. Moon Bear opens up the scritching, snuffling world of these gorgeous, little-known animals and would make a great birthday or holiday gift. A portion of  Read More