Veronika Wild

Take photos, not trophies  -Image by TeeFarm from Pixabay The tide is also turning against the Great White Hunter. Trophy hunting has been banned in Costa Rica, Kenya and Malawi and leopards may no longer be hunted in South Africa. True there are some forms of hunting which may still be necessary – for food, for protection against predators, getting rid of introduced pests and so forth, so I won’t quarrel with those for the moment, though it would be good to see more humane ways of dealing with such issues too – for example, birth control is being proposed for our wild horses (brumbies) rather than having to cull them in our highlands where large numbers may damage fragile lands. One should also consider that one reason why species are becoming ‘pests’ in some areas is because humans have encroached on more and more of their habitat. However, as many species are in decline globally, there are strong ethical reasons to reconsider our relationship with wild animal...

Tasmanian Sea Eagle (Many thanks to Elaine McDonald for letting me use her stunning photo) I went to a remote beach this week where you could usually count on seeing the odd Sea Eagle, yet there wasn’t a single one to be seen. When I came home and started to read about them, I was shocked to find that 52% of the world’s Raptors are in decline and around 18% of them are facing extinction, even in Australia and Tasmania . (Hint: The shorter version at Birdlife.org is easier to read).  Half of Australia’s 35 native Raptor species are either endangered or listed because they are already extremely rare. In Tasmania, which has 13 species, there are now only around 100 breeding pairs of the mighty Wedge Tailed Eagle, 110 pairs of Grey Goshawks and 200 pairs of White Bellied Sea Eagles. So what are Raptors and why is this happening?   Raptors are birds of prey, meaning that they hunt small game and eat meat or carrion. They include eagles, vultures, hawks, fal...