What It’s Like To Be A Bat: Vocal Sonar Does More Than Locate Objects; It Cues Memory And Assists Flight

What It’s Like To Be A Bat: Vocal Sonar Does More Than Locate Objects; It Cues Memory And Assists Flight (June 28, 2008) — Not many people think about what it’s like to be a bat, but for those who do, it’s enlightening and potentially groundbreaking for understanding aspects of the human brain and nervous system. … > full story

Trip Report – Iberian Lynx, Andalucia

I’ve just uploaded a report of a trip I took last weekend to Andalucia.  I saw an Iberian Lynx and another 10 species of mammals including Spanish Ibex and a Garden Dormouse.

http://mammalwatching.com/Palearctic/palearctspain.html

Jon

Reliance On Unverifiable Observations Hinders Successful Conservation Of Wildlife Species

This is interesting… and it ties in with a great talk I heard once about Thylacine sightings in Tasmania .. of which there are many. 

Reliance On Unverifiable Observations Hinders Successful Conservation Of Wildlife Species (June 24, 2008) — Researchers from the US Forest Service’s Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountain Research Stations examined three cases of biological misunderstandings in which unverifiable, anecdotal observations were accepted as empirical evidence. Ultimately, they found that this acceptance adversely affected conservation goals for the fisher in the Pacific states, the wolverine in California, and the ivory-billed woodpecker in the southeast by vastly overestimating their range and abundance. The researchers’ findings appear in the current issue of the journal BioScience. … > full story

World’s Only Captive Hairy-nosed Otter Gets New Home

 

I hadn’t realised this species was so rare… I think you can see them in Southern Thailand.

World’s Only Captive Hairy-nosed Otter Gets New Home (June 23, 2008) — The world’s only captive hairy-nosed otter is given a chance for survival in a new home. Thought to be extinct in the 1990s, the hairy-nosed otter is known to survive only in a few regions of Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam and Sumatra. Otters in Asia are increasingly threatened by the illegal international fur trade. They are also captured for pets or killed for use in traditional medicines. Another growing threat is loss of habitat, due in part to impacts from global climate change. … > full story

Delphinus ID

I saw these dolphins on the boat to Channel Islands National Park off southern California. There were may have been two pods, it was hard to tell as there were several hundred dolphins. These pictures are not the greatest, but I’m hoping someone can tell me if they are D. delphis or D. capensis. I am leaning towards D. delphis, but the more I look at them and read up on it, the more unsure I am.

Caribbean Monk Seal Officially Extinct

 

Hardly a surprise, but .,..

Caribbean Monk Seal Gone Extinct From Human Causes, NOAA Confirms (June 9, 2008) — After a five year review, NOAA’s Fisheries Service has determined that the Caribbean monk seal, which has not been seen for more than 50 years, has gone extinct — the first type of seal to go extinct from human causes. … > full story

 

 

Iberian Lynx Watching

I’ve just uploaded a short note from Richard Webb to my website about a visit last month to Sierra de Andujar near Granada (Spain), which seems to be the place to see Iberian Lynxes these days.  Richard succeeded and I am heading that way myself in a few weeks.

See mammalwatching.com/Palearctic/palearctspain.html