cross-posted from: https://ibbit.at/post/7682

The Amur leopard lives in isolation in the freezing forests of southeast Russia and northeast China. It’s one of the most endangered of eight leopard subspecies in the world. Today, its population is on the upswing. In the 20th century, poaching for its spotted fur, forest fires and conversion of land for farming caused the wildcat’s population to plummet to roughly 25 individuals in the wild. Today, there are approximately 130 in Russia alone, according to a recent Wildlife Conservation Society report. Since 2016, the Wildlife Conservation Society in Russia (ANO WCS) has partnered with Land of the Leopard National Park in monitoring and conservation efforts. In 2014-15, researchers estimated a global population of 84 Amur leopards (Panthera pardus orientalis), increasing recently to 130, the highest density of leopards recorded in 10 years of rigorous monitoring, according to the report. Efforts to save the species date back decades. Collaboration between conservationists and Russian government agencies helped establish protected areas in the Primorsky Krai region since 1979, which halted the leopard’s rapid decline, according to WWF. In 2012, the Russian government created Land of the Leopard National Park, which included all of the leopard’s breeding areas and about 72% of suitable habitat in Russian territory. “It was only the creation of the national park that set the conditions for these cats to recover,” Aleksandr Rybin, large carnivore specialist for ANO WCS, told Mongabay. Simultaneous recovery of prey, the Sika deer (Cervus nippon), fire management, strong law enforcement and population monitoring gradually…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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Storms on the Gulf of Mexico today.

• Scientists rediscovered the world’s smallest snake, the Barbados threadsnake, after it had been missing from scientific observation for 20 years.
• The tiny blind snake required microscopic examination to distinguish it from an invasive look-alike species before being confirmed and returned to the wild.
• The finding represents a rare success story on an island where 98% of primary forests have been cleared and many endemic species have gone extinct.
• Researchers plan continued surveys to map the snake’s range and develop habitat protection strategies for this critically endangered species.

“Barbados threadsnakes are blind snakes, so they’re very cryptic,” said Blades, a project officer with the Barbados environment ministry, referring to the tendency of blind snakes to spend most of their time underground. “They’re quite rare also, it seems. There have only been a handful of confirmed sightings since 1889, so there are not many people who have ever seen it, unfortunately.”

The expedition was conducted in March by the environment ministry and Re:wild as part of the Conserving Barbados’ Endemic Reptiles (CBER) project. On an island where many endemic species have been driven to extinction, finding this rare snake is a big deal.

“When you are so accustomed to looking for things and you don’t see them, you are shocked when you actually find it,” Springer said. “You can’t believe it. That’s how I felt. You don’t want to get your hopes up too high.”

The threadsnake closely resembles the invasive Brahminy blind snake (Indotyphlops braminus), which was introduced to Barbados in recent decades, so the finding required careful verification. Microscopic examination at the University of the West Indies confirmed the snake’s identity via its pale orange stripes and specific head scale patterns.

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This photograph series by Mark Cowan documents a phenomenon called 'lachryphagy' ("tear-feeding"). The caiman excretes salt in their tears & the butterflies need the precious minerals for their metabolism & reproduction.

So, they're feeding on crocodilian tears.

(📷: Mark Cowan, Curtin Uni.)

https://bsky.app/profile/c0nc0rdance.bsky.social/post/3lunfcndhfs2e

So, I've won you nerds over on weevils, but can I make you love spiders?!

In this video we return to West Oakland, California to inspect the illegally-planted (but eventually authorized by the city) garden on Mandela Parkway, giving it a full species survey of rarities that were planted there including the Big Cone Pinion Pine, Pinus maximartinezii, as well as the inglorious Puya x berteroniana, Agave vilmoriniana (Octopus Agave), Quercus rugosa (Mexican net leaf oak) and many more.

We also check out some of the trees planted on side streets, including dawn redwoods, giant sequoias, and coast redwoods

[suburbia]

A new peer-reviewed scientific study suggests logging practices in Ontario are unsustainable and out of line with the province’s own strategy for sustainably managing forests.

It’s no surprise to David Flood, a registered professional forester, who has long thought Ontario was permitting too many trees to be cut down.

Flood is from Matachewan First Nation in northeastern Ontario, home to much of the province’s boreal forest. There, Flood’s community has watched as forests became smaller and more sparse over time, threatening the natural habitat for caribou and martens, two species that rely on mature forests for their habitat.

Flood is the general manager for Wahkohtowin Development, a decade-old social enterprise held by three First Nations — Chapleau Cree, Missanabie Cree and Brunswick House — to strengthen Indigenous participation in forest and land management across their territories.

“We’ve felt for a long time that there is overconsumption going on,” Flood said in an interview with The Narwhal.

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Halmus chalybeus, commonly known as the steelblue ladybird, is a species of ladybird in the beetle family Coccinellidae and the genus Halmus that is native to Australia.

Sunday gave me some of my absolute favorite creatures, including this sweet derpy long Synemosyna petrunkevitchi lass. Her face is all 👀

Watch the moment curlew frightens a hare which wandered too close to its nest

This region of Colorado, maybe an hour's drive from where this was taken, is where Chronic Wasting Disease was first detected. Our Cervidae species naturally change their elevation based on seasonal habitat availability. They go into the Rockies during high summer when they can forage without snow and retreat to the front range when it's too cold to survive any higher.

The front range was immediately colonised by cattle ranchers and farmers. The ecocide of the bison degraded that land on top of industrial agriculture's impact, as their foraging patterns are different. Between fencing, irresponsible hunting, calorie loss, wildfire/water policy, and the urban development of the front range/foothills the Cervidae were concentrated in the least desirable pieces of high elevation land. Their most genetically healthy were killed for trophies while the isolated breeding pools created what will be dementia covid at some point. CWD is the most horrifying disease I know of and it comes from denying habitat.

I like that this city-managed natural area manages to balance habitat with accessible low-impact hiking. It has a tremendous number of birds and insects. The native grasses are healthy despite recent heatwaves, so the deer and elk can actually seasonally migrate to quality grazing land. It was full of currants and dozens of our 946 native bee species and dead trees pockmarked by woodpeckers. If we had just done this from the start, the world would have been spared The Big One.

One of my favourite native wildflowers, Cleomella serrulata. I saw a few dozen of them today that were covered in a mixture of native bees, wasps, ants, and beetles. There was a really healthy and diverse bird population in that natural area as a result of the robust insect populations and fruiting shrubs.

It's owlfly larva.