Nature

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Whale stranding… what to do, what not to do

WILDLIFE hit the front page of THE PRESS today – sadly, it was because a sperm  whale stranded over the weekend at South New Brighton beach, Christchurch. A sperm whale has died after becoming stranded at a Christchurch beach overnight, according to environmental organisation Project Jonah. The whale was reported stranded just after 5pm on Saturday on South New Brighton Beach, with a volunteer medic onsite within six minutes. Do’s & Don’ts at a stranding Do Keep the animal cool...

Celebrating the magnificent basking shark

World basking shark day is celebrated on the 3rd of November every year. Founded by Basking Shark Scotland, it is a day to raise the profile of the endangered basking shark by sharing information, photos, videos and stories of the world’s second-largest fish....

Polar Bear Week 2023

  Polar Bear Week is observed during the first full week of November, running from October 29 to November 4 in 2023. It coincides with the Fall polar bear migration to Churchill, Manitoba, where the bears gather to wait for Hudson Bay to freeze up so they can return to hunt seals. Find out lots of interesting POLAR BEAR FACTS here...

Creature Feature….the digging machine called Wombat!

October 22nd is World Wombat Day…..   Interesting Facts Wombats are natural digging machines and perform a very important role in our ecosystem. Wombats can dramatically improve soil health by bringing important nutrients to the surface and help organic matter and plant seedling mix into compacted soil through their burrowing actions. But sadly, wombats are disappearing. The fatal combination of disease, increasing habitat loss, road deaths and extreme weather events are all serious threats to the future of our precious...

Water crucial to sustaining migratory birds

Water is fundamental to sustaining life on our planet. Migratory birds rely on water and its associated habitats—lakes, rivers, streams, ponds, swamps, marshes, and coastal wetlands—for breeding, resting, refueling during migration, and wintering. Yet increasing human demand for water, along with climate change, pollution, and other factors, are threatening these precious aquatic ecosystems. Headlines around the world are sounding alarm: 35 percent of the world’s wetlands, critical to migratory birds, have been lost in the last 50 years. Utah’s Great...

St Francis of Assisi

St. Francis of Assisi is well-known for his many miracles involving animals and birds and his compassion for healing critically ill and injured people. St. Francis is also the patron saint of ecology, including animals, their lives and welfare. Many churches, particularly in the United States, celebrate the Feast of St Francis of Assisi on October 4 each year. The feast commemorates the life of St Francis, who was born in the 12th century and is the Catholic Church’s patron...

All about ‘ocean acidification’

As carbon dioxide (CO2) dissolves in sea water, it forms carbonic acid, decreasing the ocean’s pH, a process collectively known as ocean acidification. Present ocean acidification occurs approximately ten times faster than anything experienced during the last 300 million years, jeopardising the ability of ocean systems to adapt to changes in ocean chemistry due to CO2. Ocean acidification has the potential to change marine ecosystems and impact many ocean-related benefits to society such as coastal protection or provision of food...

Creature Feature…Freshwater dolphins

We have featured dolphins – Hector’s dolphin of New Zealand, and the apex predator that is the Orca (or ‘killer whale’) …. introducing the very unique dolphins that live in freshwater systems – rivers! River dolphins are a polyphletic group of fully aquatic mammals that reside exclusively in freshwater or brackish water. They are an informal grouping of dolphins, which itself is a paraphyletic group within the Cetacea. . The baiji – Lipotes vexillifer, Lipotes meaning “left behind” and vexillifer...

Badgers, mustelids and the cull….

  National Badger Day focuses on all things ‘badger’,  so here are some interesting facts about badgers and their cousins…. image from Pinterest Badgers are part of the ‘mustelid’ group of mammals… The Mustelidae from Latin mustela, meaning weasel) are a diverse family of carnivorous mammals, including weasels, badgers, otters, Martens, and wolverines. . Otherwise known as mustelids, they form the largest family in the suborder Caniformia, of the order Carnivora with about 66 to 70 species in nine subfamilies....