Spare a thought for the vulture.
Firstly these giant birds’ scavenging habits and ominous features have landed them with a fairly hefty image problem. In cartoons they are regularly portrayed as sinister and malevolent while their name has become shorthand for cold hearted self preservation.
In actual fact these striking birds are quite incredible and have come to serve an important function in Indian culture. Cows are sacred in India and Hindus do not slaughter them for meat. When they die their carcasses are traditionally left in dedicated open air graveyards to be picked clean by scavengers.
In the past vultures have carried out this job. But then the drug diclofenac – deadly to vultures - became widely used to treat diseases in cows, with catastrophic results. For every 1000 Oriental white-backed vultures occurring in southern Asia in the 1980s only one remains today.
Scientists have been on the look out for a safer alternative to the drug in order to reverse the decline in vultures. But now they face a major set back with the discovery that a second livestock treatment in Asia - ketoprofen - is also lethal to the birds, causing kidney failure.
There are safe drugs out there and conservationists are pushing hard for them to be used instead of the harmful alternatives. Vultures have disappeared from large parts of India, Pakistan and Nepal and three species of the bird are on the brink of extinction.
So maybe it’s about time we throw our preconceptions about these majestic creatures out the window before they disappear forever.
Tomorrow is pre-budget report day.
Hello? Hello? Oh, you are there. I thought I’d lost you for a moment. It may not sound terribly exciting, but the pre-budget report is of huge importance to the birds, wildlife and nature we care about.
The decisions our political leaders take to fix the nation’s finances will have major implications for the health of our natural environment, our wellbeing and that of future generations.
If we get the investment right now, in tropical forests, renewable energy, marine and agriculture, we will reap huge dividends for years to come.
The UK Government must remember that the generations of children who will one day be paying back our financial debts also deserve to live in a world that has healthy air, seas, rivers and forests.
The RSPB thinks the UK Government should use this pre-budget report to cut spending on things that pollute and damage the environment, and put the money into protecting nature and all the services that it provides.
The current financial crisis presents an opportunity to lay the foundations of a sustainable future.
We need to invest up to £200 billion in environmentally sustainable, renewable energy over the next decade or pay far more in the future to live with the consequences of dangerous climate change.
If the UK follows this prescription, it will create the bedrock of future prosperity. We are playing ‘catch up’ with other European economies on the scale of our low-carbon industries, but we have the potential to position ourselves at the leading edge of developing – and exporting – low carbon goods and services.
The pre-budget report is the last chance in the life of this parliament to deliver a credible, coherent plan to put the UK on the path to a strong, sustainable economic future.
Now is the time to turn words into action.
I don’t know if you’ve heard but there’s a meeting taking place in Copenhagen this week. It’s about climate change.
Of course you know about it - newspapers, TV channels, radio stations and the internet have been abuzz with excitement about this meeting of the world leaders to try and hammer out a deal on carbon emissions. There has been more media coverage on climate change in the run up to Copenhagen than ever before, and this week it will reach fever pitch.
There are those who believe this is our last chance to save the planet, while others think it will simply create a massive spike in emissions of pointless hot air. If you want to follow the issue from the point of view of the RSPB then pop along to our climate blog which will be updated throughout the Copenhagen talks by our team there.
But whatever your opinion of the talks are, and whatever they achieve, let’s just remind ourselves of devastating impact climate change threatens to have on our wildlife.
Increase in global temperatures will displace animals from their natural habitats. As birds’ natural ranges move further north their populations will be squeezed into ever smaller habitats. Sea level rises threaten important coastal wetlands which support all kind of creatures, droughts will take their toll on many species while loss of the polar ice caps will destroy entire landscapes which polar bears, walruses, snowy owls any many others depend on.
Don’t listen to the growing number of misguided climate naysayers. This isn’t doomsday prophesising – it’s already starting to happen.
Marine researchers have discovered that rises in sea temperatures have resulted in a 70 per cent reduction in zooplankton in the North East Atlantic. Sandeel larvae are dependent on plankton and the effects of the loss of their food can be seen right up the chain to seabirds like Atlantic terns whose numbers have seen worrying declines in recent years.
RSPB scientists have found that warm summers have had an impact on cranefly numbers – and this is turn is affecting populations of birds which rely on them for food. Average increase in temperatures has resulted in cranefly larvae in peatland soil failing to reach maturity, resulting in a decline in golden plovers in the Peak District. Climate modelling suggests that this will result in localised extinctions of the bird by the end of the century.
There are plenty more examples like these. This is the beginning of a road which will end in mass extinctions and loss of biodiversity if we don’t change lanes now. So whatever happens in Copenhagen over the next fortnight, we need to do everything we can to make sure we’re steering in the right direction.
Some stunning images have appeared in the news this week of one of the country’s most spectacular wildlife events.
Starling murmerations occur when young birds gather together in their hundreds and thousands in large flocks and at dusk they begin flying in swirling cloud like formations.
The RSPB have been on hand to help people get the best view and answer their questions about this amazing spectacle – and some sharp eyed photographers have managed to snap the flocks in some interesting shapes, from animals to something a little less fluffy and heartwarming.
The large flocks occur because starlings find safety in numbers but there is also evidence that they use the social gathering to exchange information about feeding areas.