Tagged With: Conservation
Orchids, bears and the Galapagos: one travel grant recipient shares her story
Ecuador is declared the ‘Land of Orchids’, and for good reason. This small diverse country in South America has over 4,200 species of orchids owing to the vast number of climatic conditions provided by different habitats in the coastal regions, the Andes and the Amazon basin. Ecuador is therefore the perfect place to host the … Continue reading
Reversing the decline of the orangutan population
This month we celebrated International Organ-utan day. Organised by World Orang-utan Events, the day looks to promote orang-utan conservation and welfare, as well as inter organization cooperation. There are two species of orang-utan, the Bornean orang-utan, Pongo pygmaeus and the Sumatran orang-utan, Pongo abelii. Both species are critically endangered, their numbers having decreased by 60% … Continue reading
Podcast: Indian tigers as flagships for conservation
By Rebecca Nesbit MRSB, ecologist and author Before I attended the Biology Week debate on ‘Should we save the panda?‘, I was conflicted. The loss of such an incredible species felt like a tragedy, yet ‘it’s cute and furry’ seemed no reason to allocate scarce conservation funds to its protection. I left the debate with my conflicts … Continue reading
Seven surprising sunfish facts
By Natasha Phillips, PhD student at Queen’s University Belfast studying the diet & behaviour of ocean sunfish. Last summer Natasha spent two months studying ocean sunfish in Camogli, Italy, with the support of a Travel Grant from the Royal Society of Biology. Grants applications for 2017 are currently open. Over the last two years I have seen hundreds … Continue reading
Helping urban agriculture take root
Sam Lane AMRSB looks at some of the technologies and policies that will help cities grow their own food. What if I told you there was a way to meet growing demands for food security, reduce causes of climate change, shrink supply chains and improve public health? Well, some think that urban agriculture might just … Continue reading
Otter magic
By Pete Cooper, postgraduate student at The University of Exeter. Read blogs about the other mammals in the #UKMammalPoll and vote for your Favourite UK Mammal. Why are otters so endearing? This may seem obvious, what with their ‘cute’ charismatic appeal, prevalence in our culture from Wind in the Willows to Tarka and resemblance to … Continue reading
Decorating the dolphin: why a marine mammal deserves the crown
Opinion piece by Billy Mills – Biology Week intern at the Royal Society of Biology. Read blogs about the other mammals in the #UKMammalPoll and vote for your Favourite UK Mammal. While helping create the UK Mammal Poll, I noticed that many people seem to be unaware of the diversity of mammals that live in … Continue reading
Securing the future of Scottish Wildcats
By Vicky Burns, Scottish Wildcat Action Read blogs about the other mammals in the #UKMammalPoll and vote for your Favourite UK Mammal. Scottish wildcats are now critically endangered. Once a common sight throughout Britain, hunting, habitat loss and, more recently, introgressive hybridisation means there are now less than 300 left in the wild. The biggest … Continue reading
Favourite UK Mammal – the ones that got away
Opinion piece by Fiona Mathews, Chair of the Mammal Society, and associate professor in mammalian biology at the University of Exeter. The poll for the Favourite UK Mammal has a shortlist of just 10 species. Yet there are about 64 land mammals (including bats) in the UK, and another 37 marine species found in our … Continue reading
Soprano pipistrelle: A love song in the key of 55kHz
By David Urry MRSB, science communicator at The Natural History Museum. Read blogs about the other mammals in the #UKMammalPoll and vote for your Favourite UK Mammal. The soprano pipistrelle, one of three pipistrelle species in the UK, is named due to the frequency of its echolocation: slightly higher than the closely related common pipistrelle. … Continue reading