BBC Wildlife - UK (2019-12)

26 BBC Wildlife December 2019

WILDNEWS

IN NUMBERS

75 million

is theestimatednumberofbirds

keptaspetsontheIndonesian

islandofJava.Researchershave

reportedthatmorebirdscould

be living incaptivitythan the wild.

80

juvenilesandlizardshavebeen

releasedintoa Hampshire

marsh.Theyareamongstthe

UK’srarestreptiles,having

declined duetohabitat loss.

1

migratingsteppeeagle

managedtorackupa huge

SMSbillwhilebeingtracked

by Russian scientists.

NEW SPECIESDISCOVERY

FINDOUTMORE

NatureCommunications:

go.nature.com/2BLvxPH

WHATISIT?Theelectric eels

ofSouthAmericaare

nottrueeelsatall,but

giantmembersofthe

knifefishgroup,moreclosely

relatedtocatfishandpiranhas.

E.voltai, oneoftwonewspecies,is

capableofgenerating 860 Voltsto

stunprey.Thescientistsbehindthe

discoverydescribeit as“thestrongest

bioelectricitygeneratorknown.”

WHEREISIT?TheAmazonianeels

wereallthoughttobelongtoa single

species,buta newsurveyoftheregion

suggeststherearethree.E.voltaihas

themostsouthernrangeofthetrio,

lurkinginthemurkywatersofthe

Brazilian Shield.S Blackman

Electrophorus

voltai

Theclearingofancient

woodlandtomakewayfor

HS2is delayedwhile

the project is reviewed.

HS2work deferred on 11 woodland sites

ENVIRONMENT

A

crossareasofWarwickshireand

Staffordshire,preparationsfortheHS2

high-speedraillinkhavebeenputonhold,

followinga recentassessment.Workon 11

woodlandshasbeendeferreduntilDouglas

Oakerveehasfinishedhisreportonwhether

• andif so,how– HS2shouldgoahead.
  Anyworkimpactingthesesiteswillnow
  notcontinueuntilearly 2020 (inthecase
  ofsix)andtheautumnorwinterofnext
  yearfortheotherfive.
  However,morethan 100 ancientwoodlands
  arestillatriskshoulda Government-
  commissionedreviewdecidetheHS2high-
  speedraillinkcangoahead,theWoodland
  Trust is warning. “We want the review to look

attheenvironmentalcostsofHS2aswellas

thebenefits,”saysthetrust’sAdamCormack.

“Wewantit tocomeupwithsolutionsthat

takeasmanyofthosewoodsoutofthefiring

lineaspossible.”

TheDepartmentofTransportsaidonly 43

ancientwoodlandswillbeaffectedbyHS2’s

routebetweenLondonandCrewe(morewill

beaffectedinotherphasesofHS2),andmore

than 80 percentoftheirtotalareawouldbe

untouched.Newnativewoodlandsplanted

aspartoftheproject will cover 9km2.

JamesFair

Wo o d l a n d : A n d rew M a so n / F L PA ; e e l : C. Dav i d d e Sa n t a n a

Electrifying:E.

voltaicandeliver

a big shock.

FINDOUTMORE HighSpeedTwo

Government update:bit.ly/369B00y