National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Post

🌳🐾 HUSK Biosphere Reserves - Protecting Wildcats 🐾🌳 Have you heard about Szaffi, the wildcat cub who was lovingly cared for by the staff at Budakeszi Wildlife Park before being released back into the wild this summer? 🐱✨ Szaffi is part of an exciting conservation effort — equipped with a tracking collar, she’ll help us gather vital data to protect her species. This work was just the beginning. As part of the HUSK Biosphere Reserves project (co-financed by Interreg V-A Slovakia-Hungary Cooperation Programme), a pilot program has recently been launched to help protect wildcats in the Carpathian Basin. These beautiful predators face significant threats, particularly interbreeding with domestic cats, which endangers their genetic purity. The wildcat protection pilot, implemented in cooperation with the Duna-Ipoly National Park Directorate (Duna-Ipoly Nemzeti Park), Pilis Park Forestry Company (Pilisi Parkerdő Zrt.), and Budakeszi Wildlife Park (Budakeszi Vadaspark), includes monitoring and research tasks to better understand the distribution and genetic stock of this endangered species. The partnership’s efforts will include: 🔬 Mapping genetic stocks by collecting and testing hair samples (DNA tests) 📡 Tracking the movements of wildcats with satellite collars Over the next two years, this pilot project will provide crucial insights to help preserve wildcats in the Pilis Biosphere Reserve, ensuring their survival for generations to come. 🌍🐾 BURST participates in the pilot as a knowledge facilitator, developing the action plan and incorporating the pilot's experiences into a joint methodological guide for biosphere reserves. #WildcatConservation #HUSKBiosphereReserves #WildlifeProtection #Biodiversity #SaveWildcats #BURST #Interreg V-A Slovakia-Hungary #CooperationProgramme #BURST #BURSTgroup

📰 Exclusive: This is some of the only known video footage of the rare flat-headed cat, a small cat native to Southeast Asia. Listed as Endangered by the IUCN Red List, this small wild cat species is in grave danger of extinction due to habitat loss, habitat fragmentation and poaching. Panthera, the Sabah Wildlife Department and Sabah Forestry Department work diligently in Malaysian Borneo to ensure a future for this elusive and Endangered species. Panthera and our partners have completed a ten-year remote camera study on Borneo's five wild cat species: bay cats, Sunda clouded leopards, flat-headed cats, marbled cats and leopard cats. Little is known about flat-headed cats in Borneo's dense rainforests, but the data we collected helps us strategize how to save this species Learn more about flat-headed cats and their dire situation: https://bit.ly/3Exxbok

It takes a lot of biologists, hydrologists, and other -ologists to keep forest ecosystems healthy and thriving. Modern forestry is guided by science, and these dedicated experts are the key to effective watershed protection, wildlife conservation, tree health treatments, climate mitigation, and so much more. #TheScienceOfModernForestry #ModernForestry

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐁𝐨𝐛𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐙𝐨𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 …”Humanity has good reason to want to conserve bobcats and other large mammals. Large animals in an ecosystem reduce the spread of disease-causing organisms that can pass from wild animals to humans, The importance of bobcats to ecological well-being is in noting that the species is “an integral part of the food chain, controlling prey populations and maintaining the balance in ecosystems.” https://lnkd.in/dAfasBrE

Today is World Migratory Bird Day, a global campaign that aims to raise awareness of migratory birds and the need for international cooperation to conserve them. Through a partnership among the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (Courtney Davis and Viviana Ruiz-Gutierrez) and the Wildlife Conservation Initiative, a collaborative conservation effort between the National Alliance of Forest Owners (NAFO), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and the National Council for Air and Stream Improvement, Inc. (NCASI, Inc.), we are focused on quantifying the role of private, working forests in conserving and managing migratory forest bird stopover, breeding, and overwintering sites across the eastern U.S. Through this partnership, we are leveraging an emerging methodology in partnership with USFWS to identify the most important areas called Bird Concentration Areas. Generally, we have found private, working forests disproportionately contribute to migratory bird populations throughout the full annual cycle, particularly during the non-breeding and pre-breeding migratory periods. You can read more about this project here: https://lnkd.in/emci4-wD   #WorldMigratoryBirdDay #WMBD2024 #migratorybirds #forestry

Did you know the pandemic altered human behaviour, which in turn affected wildlife patterns? 🦊 Dr. Cole Burton from UBC Faculty of Forestry and his team used wildlife cameras to observe these changes, uncovering diverse animal responses to human activity shifts and highlighting the importance of managing human-wildlife interactions to promote coexistence. 🔗 Learn more about the steps we can take to peacefully co-exist with the wildlife we cherish: https://bit.ly/45Yk38E #CoExist #Wildlife #COVID19

It takes a lot of biologists, hydrologists, and other -ologists to keep forest ecosystems healthy and thriving. Modern forestry is guided by science, and these dedicated experts are the key to effective watershed protection, wildlife conservation, tree health treatments, climate mitigation, and so much more. #TheScienceOfModernForestry #ModernForestry #LifeGrowsFromHere

It's #WildlifeWednesday, and today we are talking North America's largest reptile, the American Alligator! While alligators are native to coastal wetlands of the Southeastern United States, they can extend as far north as North Carolina and as far west as Eastern Texas. They have been introduced by accident (or intentionally!) to a number of areas throughout North America and are typically found in wetlands, marshes, swamps, and lakes, as well as slow-moving freshwater rivers and streams. They are able to undergo dormancy during cold weather, which has allowed them to expand their range further north as climate change brings milder winters to Northern states. They are primarily nocturnal hunters and can take down large prey, such as small mammals, turtles, and smaller prey such as fish, frogs, and birds. An adaptation called a "glottis" allows them to capture prey underwater and still be able to breathe. Their tails are long and powerful and they also have webbed feet, which help them move through the water with ease. As cold-blooded animals, they are often seen basking in the sun during warm weather to help them regulate their temperature. Alligators were once threatened by extinction, but have been protected by the Endangered Species Act (ESA) list since 1967, which has allowed their populations to rebound. Despite their persecution, alligators are important keystone species in their native range. The burrows and wallows they create in the mud create a depressional pool that is used by other species for breeding, drinking, and habitat. The main threat to their survival is impacts to wetlands, primarily drainage and pollutants, from agriculture and development. To read more about the American Alligator, check out the National Wildlife Federation: https://lnkd.in/eNX3XATz If you would like to discuss improving habitat on your land with one of our biologists, reach out at info@nalt.org, or visit our website to learn more about our conservation management plans: https://lnkd.in/ec-t2Qzz

It takes a lot of biologists, hydrologists, and other -ologists to keep forest ecosystems healthy and thriving. Modern forestry is guided by science, and these dedicated experts are the key to effective watershed protection, wildlife conservation, tree health treatments, climate mitigation, and so much more. #TheScienceOfModernForestry #ModernForestry #workingforests

Yellowhammers: The Canary of the countryside. The bright yellow colouring of these farmland birds makes them easy to spot. The 'hammer' part of their name is a hangover from the Germanic languages of our past, as the word ‘ammer’ means bunting in German. Like the Canaries taken into coal mines, the presence of a Yellowhammer on farm is an indicator of a healthy habitat. Yellowhammers are often seen perched on top of bushes singing their distinctive 'a little bit of bread and no cheese' song. Yellowhammers stay on farms all year round and are still quite widespread across the UK. Quick-fire facts: Breeds: In areas of grassland and arable fields with hedges.  Eats: A range of seeds from grasses to nettle and dock, as well as invertebrates such as grasshoppers and caterpillars. Status: Red-listed. Between 1967 and 2022 the UK breeding population has declined by 64% (source: British Trust for Ornithology). Follow for more from our farm wildlife series #homeonthefarm 👋 #naturefriendlyfarming #farmwildlife --- Fair to Nature is a certification scheme, supply chain partner and advisory service run by the RSPB, the UK’s largest wildlife and conservation charity. Working with people across the supply chain, its ambition is to help protect and restore nature on farmland.