BBC Wildlife - UK (2020-09)

4 BCWildlife September 2020

Star
letter
ReadingKateMacRae’sstory,‘Along
wayfromhome’(Talesfromthebush,
June2020),I wasremindedofmyown
encounterleadinga birdwatchingtour
inCostaRica.WalkingalongtheStream
Trail,wesighteda familyoftayrasloping
alongthetopoftheoppositebank.
l themaleeffortlesslyclimbed

thestraighttrunkofaCordiatree,about

25mtall,descendinga fewsecondslater

witha smallthree-toedsloth,onlya few

weeksold,initsjaws.

Furtherupstream,wewatchedin

amazementasthemaledevouredthe

sloth,startingwiththeliverandthen

thebrain.Eventuallythefemalehadher

chancetoeat,andthentheoffspring.

Finally,themalescent-markedand

rolledovertheareawhereheatehis

meal.Wewatchedindisbeliefforover

halfanhour– it wasa sequencestraight

froma DavidAttenboroughwildlife

documentary.Unfortunately,thelight

deepintheforestis notstrong,sothe

imagesarenottopquality,buttheydo

showthisamazingrecord.

PaulRogers,viaemail

Tayratales

Wanttogetsomething

oyourchest?Thisis

theidealplace

Fe e d b ack

Falcon

licences

I waspretty

dismayedto

readaboutNatural

England’sdecisionto

grantfalconersa licenceto

takeperegrinefalconchicks

fromthewild(Wildnews,

June2020).Whatwasmore

upsettingwasthequotefrom

falconerGaryWall,whosees

thisas“animportantstepin

reinstatingourculturalright

ofaccesstowildpopulations”.

I wonderwhat‘culturalright’

MrWallthinksthathehas?

Sadly,suchstatements

arereflectiveofthesystemic

problemthatunderlinesour

continuedexploitationand

degradationofthenatural

world,namelythetreatment

ofnatureasa commoditytobe

usedtoservehumanpurposes.

SusanWarren,Devon

Surelythetakingofperegrine

chicksfromthewildcannot

beright?Justwhois Natural

Englandactingfor– the

falconersorthewildperegrine

falcons?Fromthearticle,the

onlybeneficiariesappeartobe

thoseinfalconry.

Establishinga studbook

mayshowwherethesebirds

originallycamefrom,butit

willalsoshowtheirbloodline

andincreasetheirvalue.In

turn,thiswillcreatea market

forthesebirds,whichwillfuel

demandandsurelyresultin

morewildbirdsbeingtaken,

eitherlegallyorillegally.

I donothaveanissuewith

falconryandwouldhave

thoughttherearesufficient

numbersofthesebirdsavailable

and the crop is now tight

against the already narrow

hedgerow. A small copse with

an ancient pond has been

grubbed up and now formspart

of the field, as if it had never

existed. All the wildlife hasbeen

squeezed out to make way for

really intensive farming.

I have not seen a kestrel for

two years. And if predators,

such as birds of prey, have gone,

so has all the wildlife upon

which they depend.

A J Richardson, Devon

Congrats to Chris

Chris Packham’s article

(Coming up for air, May 2020)

was honest, powerful and

inspiring. While he made

every word count, his take

on the dawn chorus made

me laugh out loud. Thank

you, Chris – this was truly an

outstanding piece of writing

and a tonic to us all.

Mary Gamblin, via email

Savingorangutans

It was heartening to read Jo

Price’s feature (Forest for the

future, May 2020) concerning

forest practices and orangutan

populations in Sabah. I’ve seen

many media reports in recent

years of the plight of orangutans

and I’m often left with the

feeling that conservationists’

efforts are destined to fail.

Thus, it was a joy to read Jo’s

well-written and informative

article and learn that there are

areas of Borneo where forestry

is practiced in a way that has

demonstrably maintained the

numbers of orangutans in

thoseareas ora period of 15

years. Whilst acknowledging

that primary forest remains

the best habitat, it nonetheless

shows that forestry and

conservation can co-exist and

gives hope for the future of

orangutans in the wild.

S Taylor, Fleet

Intensive farming

I was interested to read Mark

Carwardine’s article (My way of

thinking, May 2020). We have

lived in a Devon village for 13

years now. When we arrived, the

walks were pleasant and there

was a healthy but acceptable

balance of birds of prey.

Defra then withdrew the

‘permissive access’ payments to

farmers, which allowed people

to enjoy farmland-based walks.

Within days, all these local

walks were closed, with gates

shut and locked.

Since then, the field

margins have been removed

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Ta y r a : P a u l R o g e r s ; p e r e g r i n e s : T h o m a s M a n g e l s e n / M i n d e n / F L PA ; d e e r : G e t t y

Sustainable forestry

can support wildlife.

Wild peregrines

can be taken

for falconry.

E WRITE TO USColston Avenue, Bristol, BS1 4ST^ BBC Wildlife, Eagle House,

Paul was amazed to

watch this tayra family

eating a young sloth.