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1. Good news for tiger conservation in Satpuda in central India from Born Free

   Posted on 9:00pm Tuesday 8th Jan 2019

   Today there’s good news from Born Free. 100 years ago, there were about 100,000 tigers across Asia.   Today, there are just 4,000 and the tiger is officially classified a Endangered by the IUCN (that’s the International Union for Conservation of Nature). Threats to tigers include Human-wildlife conflict Poaching for body parts for traditional “medicine” Habitat loss because of deforestation and development, which people are driving Born Free have an initiative called Living with Tigers.  It’s a network of Indian NGOs working across central India in the Satpuda area.      The network does a number of things, namely to: Tackle the poaching crisis Safeguard tiger habitats Find compassionate solutions so that communities and wildlife can live together There’s a dedicated teams of Tiger Ambassadors.  These are local villagers who are trained to identify signs of tigers being present in their area and to help if conflict arises. There’s also a Mobile Education Unit which teachers local school children about wildlife conservation. So the good news for tiger conservation is.... Tiger numbers have increased to 500 across the Satpuda landscape in the last 10 years.  This is great news but Born Free wants to go further.   It wants to:  Safeguard wild tiger populations in central India Work with more local communities to reduce human-wildlife conflict Create more protected areas so that wildlife can flourish Educate more people on the importance of conservation and approaches to co-existence.

   Help Born Free protect tigers here by donating to their work

    

2. Black bear spotted on camera in Mexico

   Posted on 8:00pm Monday 7th Jan 2019

   Great news from Mexico! The World Land Trust reports that trail cameras in the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve there have filmed a Black Bear recorded in central Mexico.   This is the first Black Bear recorded there for 100 years! There's also footage of a nine-banded Armadillo and Jaguar. Back in 2018, supporters of the World Land Trust raised a whopping £57,800 to protect an area of the forest of 578 acres - that's the size of nearly 300 football pitches!

   Would you like to help the World Land Trust protect more acres for wildlife? If you're thinking, "yes, I would!" visit their website here.

    

3. Panthera's plans for 2019 to help big cat conservation

   Posted on 9:00pm Thursday 3rd Jan 2019

   Panthera is dedicated solely to the conservation of wild cats.   And Panthera has shared its plans for 2019 and the advances it wants to make for big cats: Take On Wildlife Crime and Trafficking Globally To clamp down on the threat to other cat species in areas of the world where wildlife crime is rising.  Funding from the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will help Panthera to increase its work with government partners around the world to disrupt the criminals targeting tigers, lions, jaguars, leopards and snow leopards. Revolutionize the Way it Shares and Uses Scientific Data To roll out what is arguably the largest collection of data on wild cats in the world.  Its new data system will enable scientists and partners to expand and share knowledge in ways they never have before, with immediate access to millions of camera trap images and analytical tools applicable across species, sites, and regions.  This global network will change the way conservation is done and speed progress. Increase its Eyes on the Wild To produce and use up to 10,000 of the PantheraCam V7s - meaning that up to 28,000 camera traps will be in the field.  These should be a big help to wild cat biologists.

   Be a part of this journey - Sign up to Panthera for updates and ways to help here

4. Good news for Jaguars in Belize

   Posted on 10:00pm Thursday 20th Dec 2018

   I love the World Land Trust; it’s one of my favourite charities and I’ve been a supporter for some time now, doing what I can.  After all, every £1 matters. So I was very pleased to see from their website that the supporters of the Trust, of which I am one very small part, has reached its £600,000 target to save 8,154 acres of Jungle for Jaguars in Belize. The target has been reached far faster than the World Land Trust anticipated, so they are going to press on and look for donations to go towards the purchase of another vital piece of corridor.  A £100 donation can save one acre of habitat there, thanks to a government subsidy, but frankly every bit helps and you don’t have to donate that amount to be a part of something really very special. I donated towards the Jungle for Jaguars appeal in memory of my father on the occasion of his birthday and I feel a warm glow inside my heart every time I think of a jaguar on the prowl through a jungle, doing what jaguars do. Like every species on the planet, they deserve the right conditions to thrive and survive and it’s up to us humans to ensure they get it. Donate here to the World Land Trust.  Every £1 will help the jaguars and all the wildlife who need these corridors to move safely from one area to another.

    

5. Canada invests £8.5 million to save land for wildlife conservation in the Rocky Mountains

   Posted on 8:00pm Monday 19th Nov 2018

   Canada is investing C$14.7 million – that’s the equivalent of about £8.5 million – to put aside 7,900 hectares for wildlife conservation in the Rocky Mountains. They are beautiful – I visited there far too long ago – and I’m delighted to hear of this move. The funding will expand a tract of land in the south-east of British Columbia.   The initiative will help protect about 40 species.  Grizzly bears, wolverines, peregrine falcons and mountain caribou will benefit. from Lonely Planet Publications The investment comes from federal and provincial governments.  It will add 14% more land to the existing Darkwoods Conservation Area, which has valleys, mountains and lakes and which connects to an existing network of wildlife management areas and parkland. The investment means that both wildlife and plant life will have improved protection in an area which lies within the world’s only inland temperate rainforest. Find out more about why the Darkwoods Conservation Area matters