“The population of giant pandas in the wild has nearly doubled as China steps up its conservation efforts.
China’s National Forestry and Grassland Administration said on Jan 25 there are now around 1,900 pandas in the wild from some 1,100 in the 1980s.”
From The Straits Times.
Bloomberg | Conservation & Biodiversity
“A billionaire-backed nonprofit has begun relocating captive-bred southern white rhinos to protected wild areas after the purchase of the world’s biggest privately-owned herd of the animals last year.
African Parks, whose backers include the charitable foundations of Howard Buffett and the Walton Family, said it donated 40 of the 2,000 rhinos it acquired along with the distressed operation in central South Africa to the community-owned Munywana Conservancy in the southeast of the country. The translocation is the first step in a plan to relocate 15% of the global population of the pachyderms.”
From Bloomberg.
Institute of Marine Research | Conservation & Biodiversity
“For a long time, there has been great uncertainty about whether the fin whale has managed to recover after the industrial whaling in the Southern Ocean in the first half of the 20th century.
Now marine scientists can confirm the ‘comeback’ of fin whales in a key region of the Southern Ocean. Whale counts that have recently been presented in a scientific article show a record number of fin whales in the Scotia Sea in the Southwest Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean.
– It is simply sensational. The results show over 50,000 fin whales in the Scotia Sea alone. That is more than three times higher than previously estimated for the entire Southern Ocean, says marine scientist Martin Biuw.”
“Nature Conservation Management found 12,425 eggs in five turtle hatcheries — Pachar Island, Shilkali Island, Shahpari Island, Matharbunia, and Shonadia Island in Cox’s Bazar district — through April 17 this year.
The number of eggs has increased by almost 53% compared with the previous year, from 8,096 to 12,425. Those tallies represent a significant jump from the 4,713 eggs recorded in 2020-2021 and 5,763 in 2022-23.”
From Mongabay.
Associated Press | Conservation & Biodiversity
“The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released an updated analysis of American fisheries late last week via its annual ‘Status of the Stocks’ report, which provides an assessment of the populations of the seafood species fishermen catch and customers buy. The report states that 94% of fish stocks are not subject to overfishing, which is slightly better than a year ago.
The U.S. was able to remove several important fish stocks from the overfishing list, NOAA said in a statement. They include the Gulf of Maine and Cape Hatteras stock of Atlantic mackerel and the Gulf of Mexico stock of cubera snapper.”
From Associated Press.
