BBC Wildlife - UK (2020-05)

CONTENTS

FEATURES

32 News:eDNA

Whyit’srevolutionisingconservation

38 Riverbankroyalty

Buildinga specialhidetotakea look

atkingfishersintheirnestchamber

46 Packhamonwell-beingCOVERSTORY

TheSpringwatchpresenterrevealshow

hecopeswiththeCOVID-19lockdown

50 Connectingwithnature

Therearestillplentyofwaysto

connecttowildlifeduringCOVID-

54 Wildlifefromyourwindow

Fo rso m en a t u rel ove rs,b e i n g

houseboundhaslongbeena wayof life

58 Canada’sbigve

A quintet of charismaticcreatures

OURWILD

WORLD

91 Athome

NaturalhistoryTV,booksand more

95 Workingfornature

What’skeptBobFishervolunteering

foralmosta quarter of a century?

96 Puzzles

98 Yourphotos

100 Feedback

Your letters and Tales from the Bush

REGULARS

6 Infocus

LeopardsandAtlantic horse mackerel

84 Q&A

Canchickensfly?

106 Wildlifechampion

Why Monty Halls admires marine iguanas

WILDMONTH

10 Sevenspeciestospot

WhattolookforinMay

16 MikeDilger’s wildlife

watching

Lifeamongthesanddunes

21 NickBaker’shidden Britain

Antwoodlouse

22 News

DorsetisnowthehomeoftheUK’s

firstsupernationalnaturereserve

25 Conservationreport

LesserBermudasnail

27 MarkCarwardine

Thechanginglandscape of

UKagriculture

28 Meetthescientist

Reducingpeople’sfear of snakes

inTheBahamas

29 Truthorction?

Are locust swarms getting bigger?

May 2020 BBC Wildlife 5

66 Aforestforthefuture

ProtectingwildlifeinBorneo

74 P h o t os t o r y :aCornishwood

Dreamy woodland images

COVER STORY

COVER STORY

COVER STORY

COVER STORY

COVER STORY

COVER STORY

COVER STORY

Thepeople

behind our stories

May 2020

Backb

rd:

Nge

Bake/rspb-

mages.com;

Chr

sPackham:

Jo

Char

esworth;

po

arbear:

Jm

Ba

dw

n;

ustrat

on:

Owen

Davey/Fo

oArt;

broad-bod

ed

chaser:

Ross Hoddinott; kingfishers: Robert E Fuller; orangutan: Anup Shah/naturepl.com; Elizabeth Guntrip: Peter Everard-Smith/The National Lottery Heritage Fund

ELIZABETHGUNTRIP

HavingsueredwithMEsincethe

ageof17,writerElizabethisusedto

watchingwildlifefromherwindow.

“Ibegantorecognisethebirds

inmygardenasindividuals– each

hadnuancesandpreferencesandI

learnt to tell them apart.” See p

JHENIOSMAN

SciencejournalistJhenidelvesintothe

eDNArevolutionandhow’sit’sbeing

usedtomonitora varietyofspecies.

“EnvironmentalDNAlookssettobe

a gamechangerforconservation,”

she says.See p

ROBERTEFULLER

Whenit cametogettinga closer

lookatkingfishers,naturalist

Roberthada cunningplan:

“Iturneda shedintoanartificial

riverbank,witha CCTVcamera

system,” he explains. See p

CHRISPACKHAM

Chrisadvocatestuninginto

naturetoboostourwell-being:

“Allthosetroubledendorphinsthat

werelostinthebackalleysofmy

brainstreamtotheirstationsand

elicit an exultation.” See p

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