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"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world;
indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." 
Margaret Mead, American anthropologist, 1901-1978
 


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  1. SBC Peru - helping spectacled bears

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    Today, SBC  emailed with their annual report.  They are the Spectacled Bears Conservation and they work in Peru towards the conservation of the spectacled bear, otherwise known as the Andean bear.

    The bears suffer from habitat loss, habitat fragmentation and conflict between people and wildlife.  There is a lack of knowedge about them, which impinges on the ability to plan for their conservation, and make decsisions.  And they're the only bear species in South America.  It's estimated there are about 2,500 mature individuals now.  

    SBC's mission is to:

    To conserve and protect spectacled bears and their habitat in Peru through scientific research, education and collaboration with local communities, government and land owners.

    You can read the Annual Report here
    You can read the Annual Report here
    Image copyright SBC Peru

     

    Spectacled Bear Conservation was registered as a non-profit organisation in Peru back in 2009.  The aim was to continue research into spectacled bears and to partner with local communities to protect spectacled bear habitat. 

    Their Annual Report gives you an idea of the work they are doing.  For instance, their camera trap study in the Machu Picchu Historic Sanctuary gave unprecedented data to help strengthen conservationa ction for spectacled bears and the other wildlife in the area.  Data caught on camera really gives wildlife conservation organisations evidence of the presence of wildlife and shows those in government that there is truly a need to protect these areas.

    Spectacled bears are keystone species:  they are essential to keep the ecosystem healthy.  And they are an umbrella species, too - they have large habitat ranges.   Protect spectacled bears, and you're also protecting other species such as the mountain tapir, the puma, ocelot and jaguarundi.

    You can find out all about spectacled bears from the charity's website and donate to the cause of spectacled bears and the work the charity does, too!   Don't forget to sign up for their newsletter - it's free to do!

    Visit Spectacled Bear Conservation here

     In the UK, Knowsley Safari Park give resource support to Spectacled Bear Conservation - their staff contribute to technical projects, education programmes and communication campaigns, for instance.  They have a couple of Andean Bears, and they have keeper talks so that people can find out more about these gorgeous bears!  

  2. It was World Elephant Day on 12th August - and there's a "bottle of milk match"!

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    Update, 19th August 2024

    There's great news from the Reteti Elephant Sancturay that a very special match was back for World Elephant Day 2024, and a whopping 9,000 milk bottles were gifted so with the match, that's 18,000 milk bottles for the elephants!   

    You can still donate a milk bottle here.  Please note that the match has now finished but the Reteti orphans still need this milk - they drink a bottle every three hours! (19 Aug 2024).  

    Visit the Reteti Elephant Sanctuary here.

    Original blog:

    On the 12th August, it’s World Elephant Day and a great chance to make a  to that most wonderful of giants, the elephant.

    The Reteti Elephant Sanctuary is Africa’s first community owned elephant sanctuary in North Kenya.    Reteti takes in orphaned and abandoned elephant calves with the aim to release them back into the wild.  In short, they rescue to release!  

    Meet the elephants here

    And this World Elephant Day, there’s a chance to help them!

    Give the elephants a bottle of milk – and it will be matched!  For every bottle you give the elephants, there’s a match with another one.

    Please give a bottle of milk to a baby elephant.

    One bottle of milk is $10.00   Help the sanctuary secure 20,000 bottles which will keep the calves in milk for up to 2 months!

    About 10 to 25 elephant calves are rescued in the area of Northern Kenya every year.

     Give an elephant a bottle of milk here
    Please give an elephant a bottle of milk here
    Thank you!
    Image © Reteti Elephant Sanctuary

    These elephant calves are orphaned or abandoned because of drought, man-made wells which they can fall into, conflict between people and wildlife, and natural deaths.   Local communities wanted to retain elephants within the county and so the Kenya Wildlife Service and Samburu County Government promoted the establishment of a new Sanctuary. 

    The keepers are all recruited from the Namunyak Conservancy ad they have been trained in the care, rehabilitation and release of elephant calves.  The Samburu have been living with wildlife for many years and deeply respect elephants.   You can meet the keepers here.

    You can adopt an elephant for a minimum of USD50 a year, or you can give a bottle of milk. 

    Visit the Reteti Elephant Sanctuary’s website to find out more.

    Please give a bottle of milk here.  Thank you for going to look :-) 

     

  3. Beaver Appeal with the Wildlife Trust of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire

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    The Wildlife Trust for  Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire (BCN)  have a plan (and with it, an appeal, so that they can make their plan happen).

    They want to bring beavers back to Northamptonshire.   It’s been over 400 years since beavers – a keystone species - were last seen there, and the Trust has been given permission to release a family group at the Delta Pit wetland, at the Nene Wetlands nature reserve.

    So here's an update (July 2024) from the Wildlife Trust on how the project is going - it's all very exciting!


     

    The Beaver Trust visited the site and did a full feasibility study and identified the site as a suitable feeding site – it’s also quite away from the public.  Furthermore, the site is a difficult one to manage, with breeding birds in summer and overwintering birds in winter, giving the Trust very limited time to do any work.  so the beavers will be able to manage the habitat work for the Trust.

    The beavers will be in a safe, enclosed area surrounding a lake.  They are excellent eco-engineers, and have an excellent ability to create habitats that will benefit a whole range of animals.  


    The beavers will be busy restoring the wetland habitat – beavering away – and the humans have to do some work of their own beforehand, managing trees and constructing a fence.  This fence is constructed and installed to an exact specification from Natural England – it follows a full site survey. That survey involves considering the risks, so that the Trust can  make sure the beavers are safe and don’t escape.  The stock gates are designed to an approved beaver-proof spec.

    The beavers’ work should benefit wetland birds, creating more roosting and feeding habitat, and invertebrates and bats should benefit from it as well.  The beavers will be doing what humans would be doing, but they will be doing it better (and the Trust themselves said that!)

    One of the exciting things will be the monitoring of the site, to see how the beavers are doing and how their introduction and work is benefiting other species.

    The public visiting the shopping centre next to the reserve will also benefit as they should be able to see the beavers when they visit!

    The Trust has an appeal to raise £73,982 and you can donate to their Beaver Appeal here.

    Anyway, take a look at the project here, and you can find out more about the Wildlife Trust BCN here.