Remember, Remember, … Hedgehogs

The Cumbrian Wildlife Trust are urging people to protect hedgehogs this bonfire night by taking the following procedures:

· Build the bonfire as close to the night as possible so there’s less chance of a hedgehog moving in.
· Make your pile of material next to the bonfire site and re-build the stack before lighting it.
· Search the bonfire for hibernating creatures using a torch and rake before starting the fire.
· Move any hedgehogs found to a ready-made hedgehog box or somewhere dry and safe away from the fire.
· Before bonfire night make an alternative hedgehog home by raking up grass cuttings or autumn leaves into a pile a safe distance from the fire. Hopefully sleepy ‘hogs will choose to snooze there instead of the bonfire.

David Harpley, Cumbria Wildlife Trust’s Conservation Manager, said: “To a hedgehog looking for a place to sleep, an unlit bonfire is a ready made nest. We are asking people to give hedgehogs a helping hand by following our instructions and checking any bonfires before lighting them. It only takes a minute to do but can save hundreds of hedgehogs from an unnecessary death.

More information here

Justin Timberlake Donates $100,000 To Irwin’s Zoo

 Sky News reports:

Singer Justin Timberlake has started his Australian tour with a donation to Australia Zoo.

Partway through his show, he stopped the performance to hand a cheque for $100,000 to Australia Zoo director Wes Mannion.

Timberlake says he’s impressed with Australia’s love of its native animals.

He then invited the crowd to join him in a tequila toast with his band members to celebrate and toast crazy, sun-kissed, beautiful Australian women.

Australia Zoo is owned by the Irwin family and, before his death, Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin would often make appearances there.

Timberlake will perform again in Brisbane tomorrow before heading to Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth.

Kate Hudson’s Cruelty Free

According to The Times celebrity hairdresser David Babaii and popular actress Kate Hudson’s have teamed up to create a new cruelty free hair care range.

“As a hairdresser, I discovered the use of animal products and animal testing by many manufacturers,” he said.

“I want to show my industry that great products can be made without harming one animal in order to achieve beauty.”

As well as being cruelty free, a percentage of the profits from the new range will go to WildAid, who’s admirable mission is:

To end the illegal wildlife trade within our lifetimes

General Public Strongly Against Badger Cull

Poor old badger. What with getting tangled up in cars (50,000 road traffic deaths a year), the government appoving a cull,  baiters and snares, what chance does he have?

Richard Yarnell, chief executive of the Badger Trust speaks out in the Guardian on the issue of the recommedation of a cull by the governments chief scientific advisor:

Badger killing to control bovine tuberculosis is not supported by the scientific evidence, it is not economically viable, and it is socially unacceptable.

Professor King says his aim is to control TB in cattle but he ignores the fact that this can be achieved by improving the cattle testing regime. The science shows that cattle are the primary source of infection for both each other and for badgers, but this is of no interest to Professor King. His shallow report amounts to a shamelessly one-sided examination of the problem.

The Badger Trust is also shocked that this review was conducted in secret and involved advice from the Republic of Ireland, where 30 years of badger culling have left the country with twice the level of bovine TB in the national herd compared to that found in Great Britain. Patterns of bovine TB in Northern Ireland, where no badger culling takes place, mirror those in Ireland, which suggests badger culling is ineffective.

The scientific evidence shows that when you cull badgers, you disturb their social organisation. They become disturbed, moving around much more, spreading the disease. This is why the Independent Scientific Group concluded that culling badgers could not contribute to the control of bovine TB in cattle in the UK.

Killing is also not cost effective. Killing badgers for five years over an area of 100km squared cost the tax payer £1.425m, resulting in a reduction of only 11.6 herd breakdowns that saved a meagre £313,200. If, however, you include the increase of bovine TB caused by the disturbance of badgers on the edge of culling zones it would cost £1m to save £27,000 associated with the cost of a herd breakdown (Final ISG report).

The general public are also strongly against any cull – 46,000 people responded to the government’s public consultation on badger culling in 2005, and 96% were against any form of cull.

Its time the government and the farmers stopped using the badger as a scapegoat and started to accept scientific and economic evidence to address this disease in the cattle population. Badger culling will be a disaster in terms of controlling bovine TB in this country.

British Birds Broadly Stable

Britains bird population is stable according to The Cumberland News:

New official statistics on the UK’s wild bird population show no significant changes to the pattern of the last 37 years.The government’s indicators cover breeding seabird and woodland bird populations and wintering wetland birds, and assesses progress against the government’s Public Service Agreement target for breeding farmland birds in England.The all-species indicator shows that, on average, the population index of 116 breeding bird species in the UK has remained broadly stable throughout the period since 1970, except for four new woodland species which have declined significantly in recent years.Full article here

Westwood Thanked For Fur Free Fashion

Legendary, punk designer Vivienne Westwood is doing her bit to make the catwalk a fur free zone. The Humane Society of the United States, thanked Vivienne for, ‘putting the compassion into fashion’

Every year, approximately 50 million animals, including rabbits, minks, foxes, bobcats, beavers and raccoons, are killed for their fur. Animals raised on fur farms suffer in poor housing conditions and can exhibit behavioral disorders such as constant pacing, self-mutilation and infanticide. They suffer as they die, too: neck breaking, gassing, and anal electrocution are the most common methods of death. Animals caught in traps can suffer for hours or days after being caught. They endure torn flesh and tendons, broken bones, dislocated joints, crushed pelvises, swelling and blood loss before their death.

Full article here

Shell Wildlife Photographer Of The Year Award

 The BBC reports:

A picture of a large bull elephant kicking and spraying mud in a Botswana water-hole has won the Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year award.

Ben Osborne’s image was captured during a three-week stake-out on location in the Chobe National Park.

Speaking about his winning snap, Mr Osborne said: “I love the energy in this image. It has more to do with physics than biology.”

The competition has become one of the most prestigious in world photography.

It is organised by BBC Wildlife Magazine and London’s Natural History Museum, and sponsored by the oil giant Shell.

Judges spent three months sifting through more than 32,000 entries from 78 countries.

Commenting on the record number of entries in the event’s 46-year history, competition manager Debbie Sage applauded the quality of the winning images.

“This year’s winners have gone to great lengths to capture such rare moments in nature,” she said.

“These images are the best in the world and give us all an insight into the beauty, drama and variety of the environment around us.”

A Little Water Vole And A Lot Of Patients

Chris Cheesman reports on amateur photographer :

Photographer Danny Green spent two years waiting to capture this rare image of a water vole which has tonight scooped the Urban and Garden Wildlife award at this year’s Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year.

….The shoot took place in Derbyshire and involved Danny (pictured below) having to wait patiently in the water with his tripod.The 35-year-old from Loughborough in Leicestershire said he has been a keen photographer for 17 years.Take a look at Danny’s awesome winning picture of the water vole…

Danny if you are reading - I’d love a copy – I would treasure it 

Feed The Birds Day

Date for your diary 27th October – Feed The Birds Day - Run by the RSPB:

‘There will be events taking place all over the country during the weekend, as well as in the run up to the big day.’

More information here

RSPB – Homes For Wildlife

The RSPB are hoping that 1000′s of people will take part in their Homes for Wildlife scheme. 

The activity hopes to inspire people,  ‘to make a real difference for the wildlife that shares the open space closest to them – their garden. It aims to help a range of wildlife, including familiar birds that have seriously declined.’

More information here