Another good example of importance of genetics was when German Corncrakes were initially used in reintroduction trials. Fair choice given it was a larger source than the remaining tiny population in the western isles, but as it turns out homing is genetically fixed and none returned to Britain.
The distances between genetic variation in plants are generally smaller than vertebrates - moving a Pine Marten from Scotland to Devon isn’t a problem and indeed that’s been happening formally. But it is the same principle just on a bigger scale, especially as we know UK Twite is different subspp
To requote Derek in his article “Their DNA matters not a bugger at all”
They also look like Glow-worm larvae you ordered from Wish.
Storytelling and wider communication IS very important to conservation and wilding, but the storyteller must have a good grasp of the science in order not to create misleading narratives that cause unnecessary conflict.
Just digging back into this, but this kind of miscommunication matters because it paints a story of conservationists painted as unimaginative villains when we really just want the same thing but don’t want birds to die if the evidence suggests that’s a very probable outcome.
As someone involved in a lot of the early discussion mentioned in article, it was suggested that translocation to appropriate habitat that was being created elsewhere in northern England could be more appropriate, but this could take a while to establish. But if climate is m.issue then little point.
I remember having to put out a statement against that when I was of his own blimmin’ employees…
I will never not adore "and allies" in a fieldguide title. Don't mess with the grasshoppers or the earwigs and crickets and cockroaches will fuck you up
When your proposed source of birds comes from a different subspecies from Scandinavia, an area even cooler than the region where you want to release is and warming climate is likely to be the major extinction driver, genetics matters very bugger much actually.
I was really happy to be involved with writing the strategy for Sonja and Perrin’s land in Wiltshire, which contains some absolutely stunning chalk downland. And I managed to find the DoBs last year! www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
The fact that even Roy Dennis Foundation think don’t seem to be fully aware of what’s going on is a red flag.
Though I’d also take a pinch of salt regarding the journalist, who has history with misrepresenting facts to get a good scoop.
I just don't see how this wasn't intentional on the BBC's part
‘Change the Tuna’
You’ve literally described the plot of next month’s new Pixar movie with 80% accuracy
This also falls into the very unnatural line of thinking where open habitats are the only good habitats. Yes they have great diversity for butterflies and wildflowers, but so do closed canopy for lichens and beetles. We had and need both!
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That guy who wrote The Peace Of Wild Things simply never considered the blue balls of the dunnock in late winter.
I’ve had a horny Dunnock providing alarm clock services for about three weeks. Poor sod must be bluer than a smurf down there.
Also 6 years late as of a couple of weeks ago. Scary how much they got right or near right (often about the far right)
The shed in an overgrown cul-de-sac garden where the protagonist grows ‘Homunculi’ in jars also reminded me a bit too hard of my old place in Bristol some 6 years back where I ended up keeping several tanks of harvest mice in the garage for a film shoot. They weren’t able to tell the future though.
If you loved Detectorists and you haven’t yet watched ‘Small Prophets’, get on iplayer and do so immediately.
It’s classic Mackenzie Crook with his gentle appreciation of nature sown in subtly and beautifully at times.
Coconut blood (of innocents)
Eh I think we could do with a gritty adaptation where Wonka has a meltdown at his Oompa-Loompas in the toffee room as he’s overwhelmed by his family trauma
Which makes it all the weirder why they didn’t cast him in the Wonka movie rather than Timothee Chalamalapadamale.
I think it comes down to more to a human/human thing rather than being directly being about the pelican. Projects which are deemed ‘sexy’ or appealing to the mainstream are not worthy even if there is good scientific justification behind them.
Bones found in natural sites too primarily East Anglia. Also trading pelicans trans-continentally for food outside of major ports would be very ineffective because of inefficient ways to preserve the meat. The simplest explanation in this case would be that they were harvested locally.
The lack of ‘stepping stone’ freshwater wetland and estuarine (important for winter) mosaics between the current and former range sites probably doesn’t help. Again, I’m going to take the DP specialists ear on this one.
You can create as many as you like but you also need the birds. Despite the growth of the southeeastern pop vagrant wanderers have been sparse and they generally return close to their colony to breed anyway. Then you need enough birds meeting and settling to get a colony going.
