Briefly 141 EUROPE
Plans for Norwegian whale sanctuary An entrepreneur is trying to raise funds to create the world’s first open-water whale sanctuary in the Norwegian fjords, to care for and protect whales that have been kept in captivity and trained to perform for an audience. Adam Thorpe set up the charity OneWhale, which currently funds themoni- toring and protection of Hvaldimir, a beluga whale living inthe area.Hvaldimir has appar- ently been trained by people and is not well adapted to life in the wild. However, videos of his interactions with people have become a viral online sensation. OneWhale has been workingwith the local government and com- munity to create the reserve, which would be big enough to take a number of whales that are used to captivity, with the hopes of enab- ling them to hunt for themselves, interact with each other and be released back into thewild. Scientists, veterinarians and conser- vationists are nowworking to create the sanc- tuary, and the project has attracted the interest of filmmakers who are keen to docu- ment the journey ofHvaldimir fromcaptivity to danger at sea and finally a safe sanctuary. Source: The Guardian (2022) theguardian. com/environment/2022/nov/06/norway- plans-sanctuary-for-spy-whale-hvaldimir- who-came-in-from-cold
Tracking European eels all the way to the Sargasso Sea The Critically Endangered European eel Anguilla anguilla is an enigmatic species with a fascinating life cycle, the details of which have only recently been discovered. It has long been speculated that adult eels spawn in the Sargasso Sea, a region of the Atlantic Ocean bounded by four currents forming an ocean gyre, but direct evidence has been lacking. In 2022, after generations of speculation, scientists have finally mana- ged to track European eels the entire way back to their breeding grounds in the Sargasso Sea, following their movements thousands of kilometers along what is con- sidered one of the most impressive animal
migrations.Using satellite tags, the research- ers obtained tracking data from 21 female eels as they navigated the last leg of their epic journey, southwest from the Azores, a volcanic archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean. The longest recorded straight-line distance was 2,275 km. It is still unclear how the eels findtheirway to the Sargasso Sea and how long their spawning season extends. Source: ScienceAlert (2022) sciencealert. com/scientists-track-eels-to-their-ocean- breeding-grounds-in-world-first
EU demand for frog legs raises risks of local extinctions The EU imports an estimated 4,000 tof frogs’ legs per year, equivalent of c. 200 mil- lion frogs killed, the majority of which are caught in the wild. This makes the EU the largest importer of frogs’ legs originating from wild-caught species. Amid a global de- cline of biodiversity, many populations of amphibians are already under pressure from habitat loss, diseases and increasing uses of pesticides.A new study demonstrates that the trade in frogs for consumption in the EU is unregulated and unsustainable. According to the scientists, this trade in- creases the risk of local and regional frog ex- tinctions in themain source countries for the EU market, such as Indonesia, Vietnam, Turkey and Albania. Because the most traded species are not currently listed on CITESAppendices, there is little information on the species traded, their origins or the en- vironmental impact. This lack of transparent data hampers conservation efforts, and re- searchers are urging the EU to start a listing initiative at CITES to ensure data on this trade are collected at the species level. Source: Mongabay (2023)
news.mongabay. com/2023/01/eu-demand-for-frogs-legs- raises-risks-of-local-extinctions-experts- warn
Good news: pine martens breed successfully in New Forest... Rare pine martens are now believed to be well-established and successfully breeding in the New Forest in Hampshire, UK. The elusive cat-sized member of the weasel fam- ily was previously thought to have survived largely in the north of England, but trail cameras placed as part of a long-term study have shown young pine martens ex- ploring and playing together. The study began after several sightings of the protected species in the New Forest, with conserva- tionists aiming to determine if and how pine martens were recolonizing the area. More than 100 video clips were captured during 2022, with footage of young pine martens providing further evidence of suc- cessful breeding. The recordings also con- firm initial findings that pine martens prefer to use fallen trees and branches to navigate across the forest floor and to cross streams and wet areas. They sleep and make dens high up in the trees and usually only come out at night to hunt. The pine marten study is being carried out by Wild New Forest along with Forestry England, The New Forest Study Group, Hampshire and Isle ofWightWildlife Trust. Source: BBC (2022)
bbc.co.uk/news/uk- england-hampshire-63821752
.. . baby seals spotted in record numbers on Norfolk coast... A record number of baby seals have been spotted along a stretch of the coast of Norfolk, UK. Almost 4,000 seal pups have been born this winter and over 1,000 adults have been spotted by volunteers, almost doubling the count obtained during the winter of 2019–2020. Every year between November and January, grey seals Hali- choerus grypus come ashore to breed in Norfolk. The seal pups feed on theirmothers’ milk on the beach for 3 weeks and grow at a rapid pace. Once the lactation period ends, themothers leave and the baby seals stay be- hind on the beach until they have shed their distinctive white fur, which normally takes another 3 weeks. Approximately half of the global population of grey seals live around the British coastline, with Norfolk being an important breeding area. The seal population between Waxham and Winterton attracts thousands of visitors eachwinter. Local charity FriendsofHorsey Seals,which protects the col- ony from disturbance, say that the significant number of pups is a sign of a healthy colony. Source: The Guardian (2023) theguardian. com/uk-news/2023/jan/15/baby-seals- spotted-in-record-numbers-on-norfolk- coast
.. and European hamsters return to the Tarutino Steppe A family of three European hamsters has been released on to the Tarutino Steppe, in the Danube Delta rewilding landscape in Ukraine. This is the first release in a reintro- duction programme aiming to help restore local food webs, enhance biodiversity, boost nature-based tourism and create a wilder steppe landscape. The European hamster once inhabited steppes and forest-steppes across Europe, and was resident in most of Ukraine, but has almost disappeared in the wild as a result of habitat destruction, envir- onmental pollution and targeted extermin- ation as an agricultural pest. In 2009,it was listed in the Red Book of Ukraine. On the Tarutino Steppe, the growing hamster pop- ulation will benefit from environmental protection and an increasingly wild and healthy landscape, to which they will con- tribute by spreading plant seeds and improv- ing soil fertility. Their dens will create habitats for other wildlife, and they will form an important part of local food chains as prey for a range of birds and mammals. Other native mammals returned to the Tarutino Steppe include kulan (Asiatic ass), fallow deer and steppe marmot. Source: Rewilding Europe (2022)
rewildingeurope.com/european-hamsters- return-to-the-tarutino-steppe
Oryx, 2023, 57(2), 139–144 © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605323000121
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