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Simon was in a cave on the border of Cumbria & Lancashire because he couldn’t get to the Farne Islands. He showed us some hibernating bats. More Whooper Swans have arrived and you can find out more here. The Thornby fox has an injured back leg. On Rum, Maximus has taken Percy’s territory but Percy is getting some hinds back. On the Farne Islands, 28,003 Little Auks have been spotted but none of the team is there. And they show some clips of the cold weather.
An oil spill has occurred off the south-west coast of Russia. This is bad news for wildlife in that area. It is especially bad news to hear that one of the ships was carrying sulphur! It could take years to clean up us some oil has sunk to the seabed.
I hope they clear up the thousands of gallons of it and I hope all life in that area survives.
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The Red panda munches its way through its own bodyweight in bamboo (for a female, up to 200,000 leaves) every day in the isolated mountain ranges in western China and the Himalayas.
Sumatran Rhino
The smallest of the five extant species of rhino, the 300 surviving hairy two-horned creatures chew vegetation in Indonesia and Malaysia.
Amur Leopard
One of only seven remaining female Amur leopards in the wild was shot in Russia at the end of April. Their natural habitat – the Sikhote-Alin mountains in north-east Russia – is rapidly deteriorating and disappearing as the forests the leopards prefer to live in are destroyed.
Bactrian camel
These rare two-humped camels survive in the wilds of the Mongolian Gobi Desert by eating snow in place of water – it’s estimated there are only 950 alive in the wild.
African wild ass
The ancestor of the domestic donkey, the African wild ass is down to its last few hundred surviving relations in the wilds of Ethiopia and Somalia. Despite being legally protected, the asses are still hunted for food and traditional medicine.
Aye-aye
Native to Madagascar, the aye-aye is under threat not only from its forest home being destroyed but also because the local population think that, with its bulging eyes and long, crooked fingers, it’s an evil omen.
Golden-rumped elephant-shrew
The bright yellow rumps of this Kenyan elephant-shrew – so named because of its extremely long trunk-like nose – have been fading as their habitat's destroyed. And their numbers aren’t helped by the fact that they’re notoriously monogamous.
Saiga antelope
Numbers of one of the world’s fastest animals have plummeted from over a million a decade ago to fewer than 50,000 today. These graceful beasts roam the wilds of China, Kazakhstan and southern Siberia, but are under threat from poachers as their horns are used in Chinese medicine.
Grevy's Zebra
The largest of the zebra family and native to Kenya and Ethopia, the Grevy’s are considered endangered because they’re hunted for their narrowly striped skin. They’re also threatened by habitat loss and have to compete with growing livestock herds for water supplies.
Hawksbill Turtle
Not only are hawksbills hunted for their shells, they also get caught up in fishing nets and suffer from their nesting beaches being destroyed to make way for new hotels and marinas. It’s estimated that there are only about 8,000 nesting females spread throughout the tropics.
Orangutan
The quest for supposedly environmentally friendly biofuels has had a serious impact on the survival of one of our closest mammalian relations. The production of palm oil for use as fuel is destroying orangutan habitats in Sumatra and Borneo at an alarming rate, with the population decreasing by 1,000 each year. It’s thought the species could become extinct in the wild within a decade if the destruction of their rainforest home continues.
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A bear that was being sold at a market needs a new home. Shaggy in an Andean Bear and can be seen above. He was being sold for what is £100 to Brits. He was in a poorly state but fortunately an animal charity saved him and he is doing very well. They are now looking for a new home for him.
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The bad weather had disturbed the wildfowl at Martin Mere. Simon had a very rare encounter indeed when he was only feet away from a whole family of Wild Boar: two adults & five piglets. He also filmed them all over-night. On Rum, Percy has easily defeated Pirim & Ivan, but is his energy going? From Glasgow, we hear that both of this year’s cubs of Jamie have survived. We found out that the Harlequin ladybirds are destroying our native ones. You can find more information here. We also see some footage of the Super Whoopers leaving Iceland and arriving at Martin Mere.
Simon moved to the Forest of Dean where he found tracks of squirrels & mice. He is actually looking for Wild Boar and he finds a family of two adults & 5 piglets. They also filmed wild foxes. Bill & Kate showed us Whooper Swans fighting and there was a Super Whooper preview showing the swans being tagged. There was squirrel action from Thornby and we found out that Caesar did better than Percy on Rum last year. We also found out how the floods affected wildlife. Blue Tits were down 40%, Great Tits were down 34%, Willow Warblers were down 19%. Reed Warblers lost their nests. But because of the dry April, Long-tailed Tits were up 48%. They also told us about the tre-planting parties.
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