BBC Wildlife - UK (2020-05)

May 2020 BBC Wildlife 101

T

heriverseparating

villagersfromthe

jungleinChitwan,

southernNepal,

wasblanketedinfogaswe

setoffforanearlymorning

safari.Theguidestanding

atopourcanoeusedhisoarto

gentlytapawaythegathering

crocodilesnouts,theireyes

lightinguplikeconstellations

againstthemurkybackdrop.

Chitwanis famousforitsBengaltiger

populationanditscrashes(yes,that’sthe

correctcollectivenoun)ofgreaterone-

hornedrhinos.I wasthere,withmy

partner,toseethelatter.

Wealightedonthefarriverbankand

brisklywalkedtothesafetyofanopen-top

jeep,wheretheguidelaiddowntherhino

rulesofthejungle.

Rulenumberone:if a rhinostarts

hurtlingtowardsyou,zig-zagtowardsthe

nearesttree– a rhino’sarmouredbodyis

toocumbersometomakesharpturns.Rule

numbertwo:climbatleast2m– a rhino

is tooheavytoraiseitshead.Rulenumber

three:nevergettooclose– thesebeasts

havefamouslybadtempers.

Aswerumbledthroughthejungle,

I wasreassuredbytheapparentrhino-

proof qualities of the surrounding trees:

broadleavedandknobblyfor

easyclimbing;sturdytohold

offagainstgougingbythat

greathorn;andtall,allowing

spacetoescape.Yet,even

thoughtheprospectofbeing

closetoa rhinowasmildly

terrifying,I wasconcerned

wewouldn’tseeanyatall–

theyearbefore,a monsoon

hadwashedseveralofthese

two-tonnebeastsacrossthebordertoIndia.

Myworrieswereunfounded.Everyhour

revealedyetanothersighting– andalmost

everyanimalwasutterlyunfazedbyour

(firmlyin-vehicle)presence.Evenfroma

respectabledistance,wecouldadmirethe

flickingoffringed,antennae-likeears,and

observethegentlenudgingofa mother

toheryoungestson,herhorntenderly

pushinghimintoshrubberyandaway

fromthesharpraysofthemiddaysun.

MemoriesoftherhinosatChitwanwill

neverleaveme– I’vesincebeenunable

towalkpasta treewithoutwondering

whetherit’srhino-proof.London’s

parks will never be the same.

Changeof view

TA L ES F R O M T H E B US H

Atriptoseegreaterone-hornedrhinosinsouthernNepal

leCelia Jonesregarding trees in a very dierent light.

whichwasalltheragewhenI

startedoffinmycareer,is a bit

dispiriting,tosaytheleast.

But,let’sbeclear– yes,wedo

needmorewoodedareas,just

let’sdoit therightway.

Trevor James, via email

RichardMabey’sarticleabout

plantingnewforestsoftrees

wasa refreshingalternative

studyof‘notbeingabletosee

thewoodforthetrees’.Butone

aspectdidneedmorecomment,

whichis thegrowingtemptation

toplantnewtreesonbrownfield

sites.Severalbooks,including

someofRichardMabey’searlier

publications,havestressedthe

often-surprisingbiodiversity

thatalreadyexistsinthese

neglectedurbanspaces.If such

sitesareconvertedtorowsof

plantedtreestheremaybe

otherbenefits,buttherange

andrichnessofspeciesmay

decrease,especiallyinsects.

Suchareas,if treeplantingis

proposed,shouldbesubjectto

anin-depthenvironmentalaudit.

Richard Stewart, Ipswich

I admittobeingexasperatedat

RichardMabey’sarticle,arguing

thattree-plantingschemesare

muchlessusefulthanletting

treesrepopulate‘spare’acreage.

Usuallywhensuchideas

aredebated,bothsidesare

presented– wherewasthe

opportunityformainstream

conservationistorganisations

liketheWoodlandTrusttogive

a morenuancedperspective?

Myhomeland(theUK)

is,froma tree-coverangle,

veryimpoverished.Thesame

is trueforthestateI livein

now,Pennsylvania.Nooneis

seriouslysuggestingweplough

upmarshlandorwildflower

meadowtoplanttrees,but

therearereasonswhyactive,

intelligentinterventiontoplant

treesnowis soimportant.

JohnHumphreys,PA,USA

OURWILD WORLD

CELIAJONESisa freelancewriterand

communicationsmanager.Shelivesin

London with her tortoise Queenie.

QUIZANSWERS(seep96)

The Wild Wordsare:1B, 2C, 3A, 4C, 5A, 6B

CORRECTIONApril2020,Q&A:AstronautTim

Peakewasincorrectlyreferredtoas‘SirTimPeake’.Though

hehasnotbeenknighted,hewasmadea Companionof

theOrderofStMichaelandStGeorge in the Queen’s

birthday honours in 2016.

Evenfroma

distance,we

couldadmire

theicking

ofantennae-

like ears.

S

Havea wild

taletotell?Emaila

briefsynopsisto

sarah.mcpherson@

immediate.co.uk

Celia Jones

T

A greaterone-horned

rhinomakingthemost

ofthevegetationwhile

the sun shines.