Springwatch is back on the BBC tonight and their website is all up to date packed with beautiful photos, webcams and things for you to do in your area! This year, they’re holed up in the RSPB’s Ynys-hir nature reserve in Ceredigion, Mid Wales. So this year they’re close to mountains, woodlands, saltmarsh, reedbeds, heath and rivers…plenty of habitats to discover Welsh wildlife!
It’s not just a catchphrase! Bats are thought to inhabit more than a third of the churches in England. But with the destruction of woodland means more bats are seeking refuge in the churches which could cause thousands of pounds worth of damage. Parishes are trying to find a compromise to allow these incredible mammals a place to live…but without the mess of the bats droppings! Some are trying to tempt them back to the belfry or towers of their church instead of the main building so the bats cause less damage. It’s a delicate balance as bats are a protected species in the country and damaging its roosting place is actually a criminal offence.
Sign up for Battersea Dogs and Cats Home’s Halloween Cat Prowl! For their 150th birthday, get sponsored for the evening 10K (or 5K if the little ones fancy doing something different for trick and treat!). Then, there’s a party at the home with a DJ and prizes for the best costume.
Lovely story about how Whipsnade Zoo have overcome the tricky challenge of mating cheetahs. The Northern cheetah is particularly endangered, with only a few hundred left in the wild, so their five new arrivals are very important. As solitary animals, mating in the wild happens after chance meetings between the male and female. The Zoo have tried to replicate this, creating a ‘Lovers Lane’, where during mating season, the males can meet all the females and if any sparks fly, the couple can be united.
The Frozen Zoo, part of San Diego Zoo’s conservation project, has samples of over 8.400 rare animals in the hope that one day scientists will be able to create endangered or even extinct animals from them…and that day might just have come.
Scientists have managed to use these skin cells to create special cells called induced pluripotent stem (IPS) cells. These stem cells are the basis for all other types of cell so theoretically it’s now possible to create egg and sperm cells to eventually create an embryo. They had a breakthrough earlier this year as stem cells from a drill monkey were used to create brain cells. So Jurassic Park might not remain fiction for much longer…
Last chance to go and see the animals at London Zoo on Friday as part of their Zoo Lates.
I captured these curious little creatures just as dusk was closing in…more in the photos page at the top of this page!
Photos by Suzie Pipes ©
