Chthonic Wildlife Ramblings

Auckland Bike Life

Brendan Moyle • Feb 11, 2020

• Auckland Bike Challenge,
• auckland cycling,
• commuting,
• cycling,
• Road Safety,
• Transport

Once again the Aotearoa Bike Challenge is on us, and once again I’m participating. In principle this is not hard because it does not represent a significant switch in behavior for me. I already bike nearly every day. The Bicycle The fascinating thing about cycling is the realisation that this is not an archaic form of transport. The bicycle is … Read More

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What to do about the Trade In Endangered Species Act

Brendan Moyle • Oct 24, 2019

• black-market for ivory,
• CITES,
• crocodies,
• crocodilians,
• illegal ivory trade,
• TIES

A discussion document on our TIES legislation was introduced by the Conservation Minister recently. This Act is the main tool we use to as a party of the CITES treaty (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species 1973). The motivation for the proposed changes clearly comes from the dramatic decline in the elephant populations since 2009, generated in large … Read More

Back on the bicycle

Brendan Moyle • Jul 24, 2019

• auckland cycling,
• bicycle commuting,
• commuting,
• congestion,
• cycling,
• social cost of cars

I am back on the bicycle. The accident and ensuing recovery time, (and some work in China) postponed a return. Nonetheless, I’m undeterred. It’s good to be back on the saddle. The Social Cost of Accidents One of the reasons we give for why motor vehicles produce economic inefficiencies, is their social cost. Some of this is easy to … Read More

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I had an accident

Brendan Moyle • Jun 11, 2019

• auckland cycling,
• bicycle commuting,
• cycle crashes,
• cycling,
• cyclist injuries

I stood up on the road. This came with a sense of astonishment. All my limbs were still working. Next priority was looking behind me to see if any cars were coming up behind me. And then I saw my crashed bicycle. It was a long way back. Past the car that caused my crash. A bit earlier I’d got … Read More

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Beat Air Pollution: UN Environment Day

Brendan Moyle • Jun 05, 2019

• #BeatAirPollution,
• Air Pollution,
• Pollution,
• UN Environment Day,
• urban forestry

June 5 is the UN Environment Day with the theme this year, being air pollution. Air pollution comprises a number of gases and microscopic particulates that impact on ecosystems and human health. Both the quality of life and human longevity is impacted by these pollutants, often in urban areas. One only has to think of news stories from London … Read More

Pandas and Bamboo: A recent dietary specialisation?

Brendan Moyle • Feb 11, 2019

• ancient pandas,
• evolution,
• giant pandas,
• panda,
• panda diet,
• panda evolution,
• panda's thumb

Giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) eat bamboo and not much else. This in evolutionary terms is odd. It’s odd in part because the panda has a short gut typical of carnivores. And it still possesses many of the genes associated with a carnivorous lifestyle. This is largely due to belonging to the bear family Ursidae. This is a group of animals … Read More

The bacterial jungle of your car

Brendan Moyle • Feb 04, 2019

• Air Pollution,
• bacteria,
• car care,
• car emissions,
• car safety,
• emissions

A recent article on car cleanliness described the bacteria that abound on car interior-surfaces. The results were shocking, with the headline announcing steering wheels had on average four times the amount of bacteria that public toilets did.  It inspired some to clean their cars . Nonetheless I confess I felt no surprise reading this. This is one of my … Read More

The Soy of Travel

Brendan Moyle • Jan 31, 2019

• food allergy,
• soy,
• soy allergy,
• Travel

Long ago I made my first trip to China. China was a different place then. Hotels were sort of modernising, but weren’t quite there. In Beijing we used to be put up in the delightfully awful Friendship Hotel. Pipes were affixed to wall interiors, odd noises were common, and concrete was everywhere. I think the mattresses might have been made … Read More

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Trading tiger and rhino products: Conservation Threat or Innovation?

Brendan Moyle • Nov 03, 2018

• China,
• China conservation,
• rhino conservation,
• rhino farms,
• rhinos,
• TCM,
• tiger conservation,
• tiger farms,
• tigers,
• traditional chinese medicine,
• wildlife black-market,
• wildlife trade

China recently opted to end its 25 year ban on the domestic trade in tiger and rhino parts. These products were banned from use in 1993 and mention of their application in TCM was removed from official publications. This was done mostly under pressure from Western governments and NGOs, who saw this legal trade as a threat to wild populations … Read More

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Our secret urban wildlife: Big Spiders

Brendan Moyle • Aug 27, 2018

• arthropod conservation,
• auckland wildlife,
• banded tunnel web,
• Biodiversity,
• biodiversity conservation,
• nurseryweb spider,
• nz conservation,
• NZ spiders,
• sheetweb spider,
• spider conservation,
• vagrant spider

Middle child was having breakfast when a big spider scuttled across the floor, heading for the table. It was a rare sight. One of our native tunnel-web spiders. It was out of its tunnel and out in daylight (it is normally nocturnal). This is the second occasion I’ve noticed one of these spiders inside our house. This is really not … Read More

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