Uncategorised Archives - Page 2 of 2

Britain’s Beavers

2nd December 20198th January 2020 By chXout Team Comment Closed

The Eurasian beaver (Castor fibre) is native to the UK and used to be widespread across England, Scotland and Wales. Beavers became extinct here in the 16th century, because of hunting for their pelt, meat and a secretion called castoreum which they use to mark their territory. The latter was once highly prized for use in perfumes, food and medicine. Over the past decade major efforts have been underway to reintroduce beavers into the British countryside. As a result, the Eurasian beaver has shown good recovery across much of its range. The National Trust recently announced that two pairs of beaver will be released in the south of England next spring, after their plans were approved by Natural England. These releases are part of the National Trust's wider plan to restore 25,000 hectares of "wildlife-rich" habitats by 2025. One pair is to be released into a fenced woodland in Holnicote near Exmoor in Somerset. The other pair is to be...

Insect Declines Matter!

26th November 20198th January 2020 By chXout Team Comment Closed

We are witnessing the largest extinction event on earth since the late Permian… in other words, 250 million years ago. Over the past 50 years we have reduced Earths wildlife abundance dramatically and many of the species that were once prevalent are now few and far between. Much of our attention is given to large charismatic animals and little is given to the smaller, some say, less attractive animals. There are around one million known insect species, 41% of which are threatened with extinction. Staggeringly, there are estimated to be another four million insect species that we have yet to discover [1]. Although we are decades away from cataloguing the insect diversity of this planet, it is likely that many species will be lost before we ever recognised they existed. More recently, evidence suggests that insect abundance has fallen by more than 50% since 1970, yet most people are unaware and have not even noticed that anything has changed....

The decline of our prickly neighbours

22nd August 20198th January 2020 By chXout TeamNo Comments

Hedgehogs are in serious decline in the UK and we need to do all we can to help them. Please try to create hedgehog friendly places in your garden (a wood pile for example) and try not to use slug pellets - let the hedgehogs do the job for you! If you see a hedgehog in the daylight it is likely to be sick, so pick it up with gardening gloves or a towel and put it in a cardboard box in the quiet, warm and dark. Call 01584 890 801 to speak to the British Hedgehog Preservation Society, or go to https://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk for more advice....

Dogs help to keep you happy and healthy!

30th November 20178th January 2020 By chXout TeamNo Comments

Dogs have long been associated with a range of health benefits such as: Improving your heart health - dog owners have been found to reduce your risk of heart disease. Improving your physical health - dog owners are recommended to do 2 and a half hours of moderate exercise. Helping you lose weight as a result of moderate exercise. Decreasing your stress levels - dogs have been found to help decrease stress hormones in the human body. Improve your social life as you meet more people through your dog. Decrease depression - dogs provide great companionships which helps to decrease loneliness and depression. A new study has recently added increased lifespan to that list! Researchers at Uppsala University, Sweden [1]carried out a 12 year longitudinal study to investigate dog ownership and lifespan. The study analysed 3.2 million Swedes aged 40-80 years old who had no history of illness. In Sweden, all dogs must be registered with the Swedish Board of Agriculture and, consequently,...

Sixth mass extinction is underway..

12th October 20178th January 2020 By chXout TeamNo Comments

Evidence from fossil records has suggested that a sixth mass extinction is underway due to a large number of species disappearing within a relatively short period of time. Although extinction is a natural process which scientists suggests effects up to 98% of species., there is growing concern for the rate of modern extinction. The dramatic increase in extinction rate due to human activities such as hunting, trade, development and pollution is 100-1000 times higher than the natural background rate and does not give ecosystems enough time to recover their populations, causing many species to be listed as endangered under the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. But are some species more prone to extinction than others? New research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences [1] which compared more than 27 000 vertebrates and analysed the relationship between body size and extinction risk found that of the 4000 species threatened with extinction both the heaviest and the smallest...