Wildlife – News, Research and Analysis – The Conversation

The colonial legacy of rigid approaches to sovereignty continue to hinder co-operative approaches to conservation in Africa. EPA/Dai Kurokawa

May 7, 2015

We need a new convention to protect Africa’s environment

Willem Daniel Lubbe, North-West University

It is important that co-operative approaches are found to conservation as the natural environment knows no political boundaries.

The mountain rainforests of Australia’s Wet Tropics are extremely vulnerable to climate change. kara brugman/Flickr

April 30, 2015

Climate change could empty wildlife from Australia’s rainforests

Stephen Williams, James Cook University and Lorena Falconi, James Cook University

A new paper shows 1 in 6 species could be extinct due to climate change, and Australia will be particularly hard hit.

Leadbeater’s Possum is dependent on large, old trees that produce hollows for its survival. David Lindemayer

April 23, 2015

Victoria must stop clearfelling to save Leadbeater’s Possum

David Lindenmayer, Australian National University

The Leadbeater’s has been formally listed as critically endangered. But unless clearfelling in the possums’ stronghold stops, it will continue down the road of extinction.

Not too hot, not too cold, but just right. Gary Miller/Australian Antarctic Division

March 1, 2015

Genetics reveal Antarctica was once too cold for penguins

Jane Younger, University of Tasmania and Karen Miller, University of Tasmania

Emperor penguins are adapted to the bitter cold of Antarctica, but a new study reveals that during the last ice age it got too cold even for them.

Labour’s policies bode well, but it’s still a tense time for this critter. Chris Parker2012/Flickr

February 26, 2015

We don’t need no legislation: wildlife protection depends on enforcement

Angus Nurse, Middlesex University

Labour has pledged a new series of animal protection and welfare reforms, but needs to commit on resources.

The dingo fence is the world’s longest. Thomas Newsome

February 17, 2015

Let’s move the world’s longest fence to settle the dingo debate

Thomas Newsome, University of Sydney; Chris Dickman, University of Sydney, and Euan Ritchie, Deakin University

Australia holds many world records, including the world’s longest fence, the dingo fence. At 5,531 km, the dingo barrier fence stretches from eastern Queensland all the way to the South Australian coastline…

Cane toads are still spreading across northern Australia. UNSW

February 3, 2015

Building fences could stop cane toads in their tracks

Mike Letnic, UNSW Sydney

Cane toads, introduced in 1935 to control cane beetles, have now spread across a huge swathe of Australia, from the Kimberley in northern Western Australia to northern New South Wales. They’re still spreading…

Guys, I’m just trying to hibernate over here. Jason Cohn / Reuters

February 2, 2015

Why do groundhogs emerge on February 2 if it’s not to predict the weather?

Stam Zervanos, Penn State

It’s all about mating success.

Island getaway: Tasmanian Devils have been moved to offshore islands to save them from a devastating disease. AAP Image/David Beniuk

January 7, 2015

Ship Australia’s wildlife out to sea to save it from extinction

David Bowman, University of Tasmania and Áine Nicholson, University of Tasmania

Australia is in the grip of an extinction crisis. Our unique animals, plants, and ecosystems are rapidly ebbing away in a process that began more than 200 years ago with European settlement. Feral cats…

Mountain Pygmy Possum numbers are declining due to environmental changes, including earlier snow melt. AAP/Tim Arch/DSE

January 6, 2015

Early birds: how climate change is shifting time for animals and plants

Marie Keatley, The University of Melbourne; Lynda Chambers, Australian Bureau of Meteorology, and Paul Beggs, Macquarie University

Every Spring, the blanket of Australian alpine snow starts to melt, and the Mountain Pygmy Possum wakes up from its seven-month-long hibernation. Naturally after so long under the snow, its first thought…

Open wide: don’t be fooled by the appearance of a Leatherback’s mouth, they eat only jellyfish. Tom Doyle

December 16, 2014

This summer at the beach, watch out for the world’s biggest turtle

Graeme Hays, Deakin University and Margie Morrice, Deakin University

Going to the beach this summer? If you’re in southern Australia, keep your eyes peeled for the world’s largest turtle, the leatherback. If you do, you can report sightings to researchers at Deakin University…

Australasian Gannets are one reason to get out bird-watching this weekend. Martin Sharman/Flickr

December 4, 2014

Six extraordinary Australian birds you need to see

Rochelle Steven, Griffith University and Guy Castley, Griffith University

Here’s an activity for you this weekend: either staying at home or heading bush, count the number and type of birds you see. It’s all part of BirdLife Australia’s Challenge Count, an annual event that’s…

Indigenous rangers at the Fish River Station in the Northern Territory. Indigenous Land Corporation

October 14, 2014

Why Australia’s outback is globally important

John Woinarski, Charles Darwin University

There are places in Australia that are awe-inspiring, spectacular, mysterious; they touch our spirit and help define our nation. Kakadu is one, Uluru another, the magnificent red sandy deserts, the Kimberley…

Feral cats are a triple threat to our wildlife through predation, competition and diseases such as toxoplasmosis. Eddie Van 3000/Wikimedia Commons

October 5, 2014

Toxoplasmosis: how feral cats kill wildlife without lifting a paw

Bronwyn Fancourt, University of Tasmania

Feral cats are a huge threat to our native wildlife, hunting and killing an estimated 75 million animals across Australia each and every night. But the killing spree doesn’t end there. There’s a parasite…

Going, going, gone: wildlife like the loris are disappearing. N. A. Naseer

October 1, 2014

Five ways to stop the world’s wildlife vanishing

Paul Jepson, University of Oxford

Full marks to colleagues at the World Wildlife Fund and the Zoological Society of London for the Living Planet Report 2014 and its headline message which one hopes ought to shock the world out of its complacency…

New research shows golden orb weaving spiders are larger in cities compared to their relatives in the bush. Lizzy Lowe

August 20, 2014

City spiders are getting bigger — but that’s a good thing

Lizzy Lowe, University of Sydney and Dieter Hochuli, University of Sydney

Find yourself thinking that the spider living in your garden is the biggest you’ve ever seen? You could be right. New research shows some spiders are getting larger and even doing better in cities than…

Burnoffs in the mallee region of Victoria may have done lasting damage to the environment.

August 7, 2014

Burnoff policies could be damaging habitats for 100 years

Dale Nimmo, Deakin University; Andrew Bennett, Deakin University, and Michael Clarke, La Trobe University

The smell of smoke in the autumn and spring air is an increasingly familiar one to many Australians. It signifies that time of year when land management agencies in southern Australia feverishly try to…

July 2, 2014

The seasons are changing but the long-term effects on wildlife are still unclear

Stephen Thackeray, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology

The National Trust has reported that the seasonal activities of plants and animals in the UK have been exceptionally early in 2014. Spring and summer have come early – and observations from some parts…

Quolls have been hit hard by the introduction of cane toads, foxes, cats and other big changes over the past 200 years – but if we act fast, we may be able to save them. Bronwyn Fancourt

June 30, 2014

Quolls are in danger of going the way of Tasmanian tigers

Bronwyn Fancourt, University of Tasmania; John Woinarski, Charles Darwin University, and Scott Burnett, University of the Sunshine Coast

With sharp teeth and an attitude to match, quolls are some of Australia’s most impressive hunters. Ranging from around 300g to 5kg, these spectacularly spotted marsupials do an out-sized job of controlling…

Cattle drovers have won back the right to graze livestock in the Australian Alps - against scientists’ advice. AAP Image/Bob Richardson

June 18, 2014

Why is our wildlife in trouble? Because we’re ignoring science

Emma Burns, Australian National University

From reef dredging, to shark culling, to opening old-growth forests to logging, environmental policies are leaving Australia’s wildlife exposed to threats. The reason, we propose, is that society and government…

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