Red-necked wallabies have been present in Britain for more than a century, originally being imported for zoos and private collections where they were popular attractions. However they also proved to be adept escape artists that were adaptable enough to survive in the British countryside. To find out what impact an established population of wallabies might have in Britain, we first have to establish where wild wallabies might be found, how often they are recorded and whether there are any current, established populations. We recorded a total of 95 confirmed sightings between 2008-2018, with most occurring in the month of August. Females with young were seen in Cornwall.
Hen Harrier and Short-eared Owl are ground-nesting, open-country birds of prey that have overlapping distributions. This paper brings together expert knowledge on threats to these species, across Europe. Both species are generally in decline and populations are broadly affected by the same factors, including predation, climate, habitat loss, agricultural intensification, and persecution. Despite the similarities, there were key regional differences, highlighting the need for country-specific conservation actions. Protected areas were the most commonly used conservation tool, though they appear to be less effective than active management to benefit the species. Effective conservation on the continental scale requires collaborative international research and practical approaches, with ongoing monitoring and assessment.
Camera traps (CTs) are an increasingly popular method of studying animal behavior. However, the impact of cameras on detected individuals-such as from mechanical noise, odor, and emitted light-has received relatively little attention. These impacts …
We used text mining, mixed-effects models, principal component analysis and clustering methods to explore anthropogenic pressures on suitable breeding and foraging habitats for Hen Harriers in Ireland, based on the 2015 national breeding Hen Harrier …
Hen Harriers are scarce in Ireland and the population is declining. The species typically breeds in upland heather moorland habitats. Due to changes to land managemen and degradation as a result of other activites, much of the Irish moorland is degraded or has been completely replaced. In this paper we showed that the breeding success of Hen Harriers in Ireland is impacted by climate, landscape composition and management. It is clear that if Hen Harriers are to have a long-term future in Ireland then conservation needs to happen and be prioritised on the landscape scale.
Myxomatosis is a highly contagious, frequently fatal viral disease affecting both wild and domesticated European rabbits across many areas of the world. Using electronic health records (EHRs) collected from pet rabbits across Great Britain (GB) between 2014 and 2019, we identified new features of this disease's epidemiology. Cases occurred across the country but there was considerable variation between years, with biannual peaks occurring in August to November. The chances that pet rabbiots could contract the disease varied by season, age, sex, vaccination status and the distance to wild rabbit habitat. Vaccinated rabbits were 8 times less likely to be recorded as a case than unvaccinated rabbits. This work can inform targeted health messages to rabbit owners and veterinary practitioners aimed at reducing the impact of this preventable disease.
Hen Harriers are scarce in Ireland and the population is declining. The species typically breeds in upland heather moorland habitats. Due to changes to land managemen and degradation as a result of other activites, much of the Irish moorland is degraded or has been completely replaced. In this paper we showed that the breeding success of Hen Harriers in Ireland is impacted by climate, landscape composition and management. It is clear that if Hen Harriers are to have a long-term future in Ireland then conservation needs to happen and be prioritised on the landscape scale.
Rewilding is emerging as a major issue in conservation. However, there are currently a dozen definitions of rewilding that include Pleistocene rewilding, island rewilding, trophic rewilding, functional rewilding and passive rewilding, and these …
Gough Island, a remote island in the South Atlantic, is home to one of the most important seabird colonies in the world, including 22 breeding species. House mice were introduced to Gough in the 1800s and have since been observed eating seabird chicks and eggs. However, the extent of their impacts on breeding seabird populations was unknown. In this paper we calculated the breeding success of 10 species on Gough and compared these to the breeding success of similar species on islands where there aren't any invasive mammals. We estimated that house mice are responsible for the loss of nearly 2,000,000 chicks and eggs on Gough Island, annually. Some species are more vulnerable than others but almost all were impacted. At least three species that are found nowhere else in the world, the Tristan Albatross, Atlantic Petrel, and MacGillivray's Prion are likely to become extinct in the near future if mice aren't removed from Gough.
Endogenous circadian and seasonal activity patterns are adapted to facilitate effective utilisation of environmental resources. Activity patterns are shaped by physiological constraints, evolutionary history, circadian and seasonal changes and may be …