Tagged: wildlife

The critically endangered Māui dolphin is a conservation priority – we shouldn’t let uncertainty stop action to save it - News

Guest Author • Oct 21, 2021 •

• conservation,
• dolphins,
• fisheries,
• New Zealand stories,
• toxoplasmosis,
• wildlife

Rochelle Constantine, University of Auckland and Wendi Roe, Massey University   The world’s rarest marine dolphin, Māui, is found only along the west coast of the North Island of Aotearoa New Zealand. Based on our surveys over the last two summers, during which we collected small tissue samples for DNA analysis, we estimate there are currently only 54 … Read More

Animal response to a bushfire is astounding. These are the tricks they use to survive - Guest Work

Guest Author • Jan 09, 2020 •

• Australian bushfires,
• bushfires,
• wildlife

Dale Nimmo, Charles Sturt University Have you ever wondered how our native wildlife manage to stay alive when an inferno is ripping through their homes, and afterwards when there is little to eat and nowhere to hide? The answer is adaptation and old-fashioned ingenuity. Australia’s bushfire season is far from over, and the cost to wildlife has been epic. A … Read More

From Restoration to Reconciliation: Belief 4 – We need to restore the balance - So Shoot Me

Jamie Steer • Dec 17, 2018 •

• balance,
• gondwana,
• introduced species,
• invasive species,
• native species,
• wildlife

This is the idea that people have upset the balance or equilibrium of nature, but that we can return that balance in future if appropriate steps are taken. This belief is very much supported in New Zealand by this notion that our environment is Gondwanan and that it hasn’t changed much in the last 80 million years. Or if … Read More

From Restoration to Reconciliation: Belief 3 – It’s a war! - So Shoot Me

Jamie Steer • Dec 16, 2018 •

• Biodiversity,
• conservation,
• introduced species,
• invasive species,
• native species,
• New Zealand,
• war,
• wildlife

We often frame our relationship with introduced species in New Zealand this way – as a war, a fight, a battle. And there are plenty of examples of it, most recently in the Department of Conservation’s ‘War on Weeds’ or its ‘Battle for our Birds’. War metaphors feature prominently in both popular and scientific literatures in New … Read More

From Restoration to Reconciliation: Belief 2 – Natives define us - So Shoot Me

Jamie Steer • Dec 15, 2018 •

• Biodiversity,
• conservation,
• identity,
• introduced species,
• invasive species,
• native species,
• New Zealand,
• wildlife

‘It’s hard to swallow giving up ur Godzone…’  (Feedback on Kim Hill interview). We have this idea in NZ that our national identity, at least when it comes to wildlife, is defined almost solely by our native species. Sure, we accept cows and kiwifruit and so on when in farmed or horticultural settings, but with the notable exception of … Read More

From Restoration to Reconciliation: Belief 1 – They don’t belong here! - So Shoot Me

Jamie Steer • Dec 14, 2018 •

• Biodiversity,
• conservation,
• introduced species,
• invasive species,
• native species,
• wildlife

OK, Number 1 – the first belief for us to look at: that they don’t belong here. With ‘they’ of course being introduced species. Here are a couple of quotes from the feedback to my Kim Hill interview to lead us into this one. ‘We should round up all possums that have eaten more than a certain amount of … Read More

From Restoration to Reconciliation: Feedback from Kim Hill interview - So Shoot Me

Jamie Steer • Dec 13, 2018 •

• Biodiversity,
• conservation,
• introduced species,
• invasive species,
• New Zealand,
• wildlife

Recently I’ve been doing a little popular writing relating to my research here and there. And one of these articles happened to get the attention of Radio New Zealand interviewer Kim Hill who invited me onto her show for a chat (read: interrogation). It turned out to be a really fruitful experience, and you can still listen to … Read More

From Restoration to Reconciliation: Why sustaining NZ’s biodiversity means moving forward, not backward - So Shoot Me

Jamie Steer • Dec 12, 2018 •

• Biodiversity,
• conservation,
• introduced species,
• invasive species,
• native species,
• New Zealand,
• wildlife

Over the next couple of weeks I’m going to be posting a new article each day. Each article will be supported by a short video clip providing much the same content, so you can either read this blog or just watch the clip. This first one’s a little longer but most of the clips will be about 5 minutes … Read More

The northern white rhino should not be brought back to life - Guest Work

Guest Author • Apr 11, 2018 •

• Biodiversity,
• conservation,
• de-extinction,
• ecology,
• endangered species,
• Environment,
• extinction,
• habitat loss,
• Kenya,
• museum exhibit,
• poaching,
• Sudan,
• white rhino,
• wildlife,
• zoos

Jason Gilchrist, Edinburgh Napier University This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. A geriatric semi-captive rhino died in Kenya recently. “Sudan”, a 45-year-old northern white rhino was put to sleep as vets decided, after months of ill health, that his condition had deteriorated to the point where the levels of … Read More

My dyslexic perspective on academia – and how I found science communication - Guest Work

Guest Author • Mar 26, 2018 •

• academia,
• Adaptation,
• agriculture,
• bird feeding,
• dyslexia,
• ecology,
• education,
• knowledge,
• language,
• research,
• science communication,
• tuberculosis,
• wildlife

Grainne Cleary, Deakin University This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. I am an academic with dyslexia and I would like to share my story with you. Dyslexia in academia is a conundrum – it is basically a learning difficulty, and coping with dyslexia is a very personal journey. It is … Read More