View allAll Photos Tagged encroachment
Zoo - Barcelona (Spain).
ENGLISH
The African Bush Elephant (Loxodonta africana) is the larger of the two species of African elephants. Both it and the African Forest Elephant have usually been classified as a single species, known simply as the African Elephant. Some authorities still consider the presently available evidence insufficient for splitting the African Elephant into two species. It is also known as the Bush Elephant or Savanna Elephant.
The African Bush Elephant is the largest living land dwelling animal, normally reaching 6 to 7.3 meters (19.7 to 24.0 feet) in length and 3 to 3.5 meters (9.8 to 11.5 feet) in height at the shoulder, and weighing between 7,000 and 10,000 kg (15,000-22,000 lb).
The largest on record, shot in Angola in 1955, was a bull weighing 12,274 kg (27,000 lb) and standing 4.2 meters (13.8 feet) high, the body of which is now mounted in the rotunda of the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. The Bush Elephant normally moves at a rate of 6 km/h (4 mph), but it can reach a top speed of 40 km/h (25 mph) when scared or upset.
While the species is designated as vulnerable, conditions vary somewhat by region within eastern and southern Africa.
In 2006, an elephant slaughter was documented in southeastern Chad by aerial surveys. A series of poaching incidents, resulting in the killing of over 100 elephants, was carried out during the late spring and summer of 2006 in the vicinity of Zakouma National Park. This region has a decades-old history of poaching of elephants, which has caused the elephant population of the region, which exceeded 300,000 in 1970, to drop to approximately 10,000 today. The African elephant officially is protected by Chadian government, but the resources and manpower provided by the government (with some European Union assistance) have proven insufficient to stop the poaching.
Human encroachment into or adjacent to natural areas where bush elephants occur has led to recent research into methods of safely driving groups of elephants away from humans, including the discovery that playback of the recorded sounds of angry honey bees are remarkably effective at prompting elephants to flee an area.
More info: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Bush_Elephant
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CASTELLANO
El elefante africano de sabana (Loxodonta africana) es el mayor mamífero terrestre que existe en la actualidad. Se trata de una de las tres últimas especies de proboscídeos que sobreviven hoy en día, siendo las otras el elefante africano de bosque (Loxodonta cyclotis) y el elefante asiático (Elephas maximus).
Debido a los esfuerzos de Stephen Colbert, la población de elefantes ha triplicado en los 10 años pasados.
Los machos alcanzan normalmente los 6,7 - 7 metros de longitud y 3 - 3,35 metros de altura, con un peso de 5,4 a 6 toneladas, aunque el rango "general" es de 2,7 - 3,8 metros de altura, y un peso de 4,5 - 7,3 toneladas, sin embargo se tiene noticia de un individuo masculino de 4,2 m y un peso de 12.274 kg, que fue abatido en 1955 en Angola, cuyo cuerpo se encuentra disecado en el Museo de Historia Natural de Washington.
Cuando se mueven, lo hacen a razón de unos 6 km/h a paso firme, aunque cuando se asustan o enfadan pueden correr a velocidades superiores a los 40 km/h.
Los individuos adultos carecen de depredadores gracias a su gran tamaño, pero las crías, sobre todo si han nacido hace poco, son vulnerables a los ataques de leones, leopardos, cocodrilos y más raramente, hienas. Esta depredación y la falta de agua en las épocas de sequía causan una mortalidad infantil considerable en esta especie, a pesar de los esfuerzos de todas las hembras del grupo, que suelen atacar a cualquier animal que ose acercarse a la manada. De entre todos estos, los elefantes africanos tienen especial aversión por los rinocerontes, hasta el punto de que los atacan nada más verlos. Este comportamiento se observa sobre todo en los machos, especialmente los más jóvenes.
Por último, conviene citar al hombre, que ha perseguido al elefante africano desde la antigüedad, tanto por su carne como (más frecuentemente) por sus valiosos colmillos. Esta caza se disparó en los siglos XIX y XX, cuando se le unió la caza por deporte, cada vez más demandada por las élites norteamericanas y europeas, y la conversión de grandes extensiones de selva y sabana en plantaciones. En 1989 se prohibió la caza del elefante africano y el tráfico de marfil, después de que la población pasase de varios millones a principios del s. XX a menos de 700.000, habiéndose reducido en un 50% durante la década de los 80. Los científicos calcularon que, de seguir la tendencia existente y no tomar ninguna medida, el elefante se extinguiría en 1995. Por suerte, la protección de que goza actualmente este animal ha surtido efecto y eso ha podido evitarse, pero a pesar de que los gobiernos africanos imponen cada vez penas más duras contra el furtivismo, la caza furtiva sigue produciéndose hoy en día. El CITES sigue considerando que la especie está en peligro de extinción.
Lastimosamente aún sigue siendo una especie muy apetecida para comerciar con ella, para ser finalmente destinada a los crueles circos con animales. Muchos de ellos son capturados cuando pequeños y entrenados con golpes, falta de comida y gritos para que realicen piruetas ridículas que van en contra de su naturaleza.
Más info: es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loxodonta_africana
Over The Rhine, Cincinnati. That's TQL Stadium in the back right which is the home of FC Cincinnati, our MLS soccer team. It's located across a street from Over The Rhine in the West End neighborhood. The West End has traditionally been black but has been continuously diminished by industrial encroachment, freeway construction, gentrification and most recently by the stadium and what develops around it.
Sabi Sabi Game Reserve
South Africa
Near Kruger National Park
The plains zebra (Equus quagga, formerly Equus burchellii), also known as the common zebra, is the most common and geographically widespread species of zebra. Its range is fragmented, but spans much of southern and eastern Africa south of the Sahara.
The plains zebra is intermediate in size between the larger Grévy's zebra and the smaller mountain zebra; and tends to have broader stripes than both. Great variation in coat patterns exists between clines and individuals. The plain zebra's habitat is generally, but not exclusively, treeless grasslands and savanna woodlands, both tropical and temperate. They generally avoid desert, dense rainforest, and permanent wetlands.
Zebras are preyed upon by lions and spotted hyenas and to a lesser extent crocodiles, cheetahs, and African wild dogs.
The plains zebra is a highly social species, forming harems with a single stallion, several mares, and their recent offspring; bachelor groups also form. Groups may come together to form herds. The animals keep watch for predators; they bark or snort when they see a predator, and the harem stallion attacks predators to defend his harem.
The plains zebra remains common in game reserves, but is threatened by human activities such as hunting for its meat and hide, as well as competition with livestock and encroachment by farming on much of its habitat. The species population is stable and not endangered, though populations in most countries have declined sharply. As of 2016, the plains zebra is classified as near threatened by IUCN.
Image originally taken in Takoradi, Ghana back in 2012, the photo is now on display at the recently renovated Konninklijk Museum of Africa in Tervuren, Brussels, Belgium. The museum is focussing on human impact on wildlife and the image was selected showing how the wildlife have to deal with pollution and waste, especially how plastics end up being part of everyday life.
I wish the museum the very best following their extensive re-opening and i hope to be able to visit this spring to see in person, but anyone who is local please go and support this very worthy display. The museum building looks stunning and is adjacent to a large park.
And thank you everyone for helping this image make Explore on Wednesday 23rd January 2018
Taken with the Sony 70-400G (MK1) with x.1.4 TC
“I would like to go for a ride with you, have you take me to stand before a river in the dark where hundreds of lightning bugs blink this code in sequence: right here, nowhere else!"
~ Amy Hempel
My first time trying to shoot lightning bugs... really fun in spite of all the mosquitoes! Unfortunately, like so many things, lightning bugs are disappearing all over the world, and it’s believed to be because of human encroachment on habitat and increased light pollution from development and traffic. I'll definitely be trying this again!!
Das Frühlings-Adonisröschen stammt ursprünglich aus Sibirien und dem Altai. Die Einwanderung des Frühlings-Adonisröschen nach Mitteleuropa erfolgte erst am Ende der letzten Eiszeit, der Weichseleiszeit. Durch die Tätigkeit der Menschen, Waldrodung und Schafzucht wurden neue Standorte für das Frühlings-Adonisröschen geschaffen. Verbuschung, Wiederbewaldung und der Ackerbau drängten diese Art in Mitteleuropa auf ihre heutigen Reliktvorkommen (sog. Xerothermrelikte) zurück. Alle drei zuletzt genannten Faktoren gefährden auch weiterhin diese mitteleuropäischen Standorte, die ohne Landschaftspflegemaßnahmen auch nicht erhalten bleiben würden.
In Deutschland kommt das anspruchsvolle Frühlings-Adonisröschen als westlicher Vorposten vor allem in den neuen Bundesländern vor; dort in trockenen Gegenden wie in Brandenburg – wobei das Frühlings-Adonisröschen immer nur lokal verbreitet ist. Nördlich von Frankfurt (Oder) gibt es einige Standorte, so in Mallnow., einem Ortsteil der brandenburgischen Stadt Lebus. Der kleine Ort liegt an der Schnittstelle der Seelower Höhen zum Oderbruch und bietet so ein bemerkenswertes Landschaftspanorama. Jährlich im Frühling ist der Ort Ausgangspunkt für viele Wanderer, die die Adonisröschenblüte im 309 Hektar großen Naturschutzgebiet Oderhänge Mallnow (wegen ihrer Steppenrasenvegetation auch Pontische Hänge genannt) nördlich des Ortes anschauen wollen.
The spring pheasant's eye originally comes from Siberia and the Altai Mountains. The immigration of the spring pheasant's eye to Central Europe only took place at the end of the last ice age, the Weichselian gliciation. Human activity, forest clearing and sheep breeding created new habitats for the spring pheasant's eye. Scrub encroachment, reforestation and arable farming pushed this species back to its present-day relict occurrences (so-called xerotherm relicts) in Central Europe. All three of the latter factors continue to threaten these Central European sites, which would also not be preserved without landscape management measures.
In Germany, the demanding spring pheasant's eye occurs as a western outpost mainly in the eastern federal states; there in dry areas such as Brandenburg - although the spring pheasant's eye is always only locally widespread. North of Frankfurt (Oder) there are a few locations, for example in Mallnow, a village incorporated into the Brandenburg town of Lebus. The small village lies at the junction of the Seelow Heights and the Oderbruch (Oder Marshlands)and thus offers a remarkable landscape panorama. Every year in spring, the village is the starting point for many hikers who want to see the Adonis rose blossom in the 309-hectare nature reserve of the Mallnow Slopes (also called Pontic Slopes because of its steppe grassland vegetation) north of the village.
Today is Earth Day, an annual event celebrated around the world to demonstrate support for environmental protection.
Nature and the environment are faced with enormous challenges from loss of biodiversity, pollution, degradation of our ecosystems, and climate change. The past years everything seems to have been about climate change. As important as it is that we fight climate change, we should not forget that the natural world faces a multitude of other problems that have little or nothing to do with climate change. The way we treat wildlife is one of them.
Scientists have taken 142 viruses known to have been transmitted from animals to humans over many years, and matched them to the IUCN’s red list of threatened species. The study found that the spillover risk was highest from threatened and endangered wild animals whose populations had declined largely due to hunting, the wildlife trade and loss of habitat.
Rodents, bats and primates – which often live among people, and close to houses and farms – together were implicated as hosts for nearly 75% of all viruses. Bats alone have been linked to diseases like Sars, Marburg and Ebola. These animals also happen to be popular on the wildlife markets like the one where Covid-19 originated.
This black snub-nosed monkey is just one of many endangered species, threatened by habitat-loss. Human encroachment into biodiverse areas increases the risk of spillover of novel infectious diseases by enabling new contacts between humans and wildlife. We need to be really attentive to how we interact with wildlife and the activities that bring humans and wildlife together.
More than 200 of the world’s wildlife groups have written to the World Health Organization (WHO) calling on it to recommend a permanent ban on all live wildlife markets and the use of wildlife in traditional medicine.
I would say that is a good start.
[Nikon D5, AF-S VR 180-400/4.0, 1/640 @ f/5.6, ISO 5000, handheld]
Marsel | squiver.com
hand dyed cotton and silk fabrics, hand and machine appliqued and sewn.
38x42"
a bit about the piece here..
Anyone who likes to photograph birds of prey knows just how difficult they can be. Their excellent visual acuity means that they usually see us well before we see them. But that same ability frequently has them departing long before we can get close enough for a meaningful photo. In most places, the photographer has to be quite stealthy and remain well hidden. In Florida, however, I find that it simply means finding the birds that inhabit areas well visited by humans. Many of these birds have become tolerant enough to observe, and some even seem to like watching humans. At the very least, they probably enjoy the great variety of scavenger prey that follow human encroachment into their environment. Those little bits of food that fall off your plate attract a multitude of insects and small animals, making it easier for our banded red-shouldered hawk to pick up a bite to eat. #RedshoulderedHawk
The Crazy Horse Memorial is a mountain monument under construction on privately held land in the Black Hills, in Custer County, South Dakota, United States. It will depict the Oglala Lakota warrior, Crazy Horse, riding a horse and pointing into the distance. The memorial was commissioned by Henry Standing Bear, a Lakota elder, to be sculpted by Korczak Ziolkowski. It is operated by the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation, a nonprofit organization. The memorial master plan includes the mountain carving monument, an Indian Museum of North America, and a Native American Cultural Center. The monument is being carved out of Thunderhead Mountain, on land considered sacred by some Oglala Lakota, between Custer and Hill City, roughly 17 miles from Mount Rushmore. The sculpture's final dimensions are planned to be 641 feet long and 563 feet high. The arm of Crazy Horse will be 263 feet long and the head 87 feet high; by comparison, the heads of the four U.S. Presidents at Mount Rushmore are each 60 feet high. The monument has been in progress since 1948 and is far from completion. If completed, it may become the world's largest sculpture as well as the first non-religious statue to hold this record since 1967 (when it was held by the Soviet monument The Motherland Calls). Crazy Horse was a Native American war leader of the Oglala Lakota. He took up arms against the U.S. Federal government to fight against encroachments on the territories and way of life of the Lakota people. His most famous actions against the U.S. military included the Fetterman Fight (21 December 1866) and the Battle of the Little Bighorn (25–26 June 1876). He surrendered to U.S. troops under General Crook in May 1877 and was fatally wounded by a military guard, allegedly while resisting imprisonment at Camp Robinson in present-day Nebraska. He ranks among the most notable and iconic of Native American tribal members and was honored by the U.S. Postal Service in 1982 with a 13¢ postage stamp that is part of its Great Americans series.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crazy_Horse_Memorial
Website: crazyhorsememorial.org/
Kestrel - Falco tinnunculus (m)
The common kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) is a bird of prey species belonging to the kestrel group of the falcon family Falconidae. It is also known as the European kestrel, Eurasian kestrel, or Old World kestrel. In Britain, where no other kestrel species occurs, it is generally just called "the kestrel".
This species occurs over a large range. It is widespread in Europe, Asia, and Africa, as well as occasionally reaching the east coast of North America.
Kestrels can hover in still air, even indoors in barns. Because they face towards any slight wind when hovering, the common kestrel is called a "windhover" in some areas.
Unusual for falcons, plumage often differs between male and female, although as is usual with monogamous raptors the female is slightly larger than the male. This allows a pair to fill different feeding niches over their home range. Kestrels are bold and have adapted well to human encroachment, nesting in buildings and hunting by major roads. Kestrels do not build their own nests, but use nests built by other species.
Their plumage is mainly light chestnut brown with blackish spots on the upperside and buff with narrow blackish streaks on the underside; the remiges are also blackish. Unlike most raptors, they display sexual colour dimorphism with the male having fewer black spots and streaks, as well as a blue-grey cap and tail. The tail is brown with black bars in females, and has a black tip with a narrow white rim in both sexes. All common kestrels have a prominent black malar stripe like their closest relatives.
The cere, feet, and a narrow ring around the eye are bright yellow; the toenails, bill and iris are dark. Juveniles look like adult females, but the underside streaks are wider; the yellow of their bare parts is paler. Hatchlings are covered in white down feathers, changing to a buff-grey second down coat before they grow their first true plumage.
Data from Britain shows nesting pairs bringing up about 2–3 chicks on average, though this includes a considerable rate of total brood failures; actually, few pairs that do manage to fledge offspring raise less than 3 or 4. Compared to their siblings, first-hatched chicks have greater survival and recruitment probability, thought to be due to the first-hatched chicks obtaining a higher body condition when in the nest. Population cycles of prey, particularly voles, have a considerable influence on breeding success. Most common kestrels die before they reach 2 years of age; mortality up until the first birthday may be as high as 70%. At least females generally breed at one year of age; possibly, some males take a year longer to maturity as they do in related species. The biological lifespan to death from senescence can be 16 years or more, however; one was recorded to have lived almost 24 years.
Population:
UK breeding:
46,000 pairs
The overnight package includes a round-trip fare on the DURBIN ROCKET steam train ride, where you will be “cast away” at one of two remote settings. Located several miles from the nearest encroachment of the modern world, this secluded wilderness setting along the beautiful Greenbrier River is where you will spend the evening with only the rushing waters of the river to break the quiet of the night. At the end of your stay the train will pull your caboose car back to Durbin where you will be treated to your first glimpse of civilization!
Each CASTAWAY CABOOSE has room for up to six people and includes a refrigerator, range, heat, linens, towels, utensils, DVD player, full-size shower, and restroom. They depart and arrive from the Depot in Durbin on the regular schedule of the DURBIN ROCKET train, so plan accordingly. A personal load of firewood will be provided for your campfire. No cell phone service is available.
Approaching sunset one windy day in June, a Least Tern sits tight on her eggs, incubating them and protecting them from the elements. Unlike the larger, colonial nesting Common Tern, Least Tern nests are typically much more spread out. These small seabirds nest on coastal beaches, exposed sandbars and tidal flats. Due to a severe population drop leading to 2015, least terns are considered a watch species and locally endangered in much of their region. As with so many other species, human disturbance, encroachment and habitat loss largely contribute to the decline in numbers. Audubon noted that some populations are adapting and have been found nesting on gravel roofs near the coast. While it’s great to learn that they are finding a way to survive, I would sure like to explore ways for humans adapt to suit the needs of our wild neighbors and not the reverse. Photographed from a distance, outside a roped off area and with a supertelephoto lens and extender to prevent disturbance. #ShareTheShore
This is Madison, who lives across the street and down a couple of houses. I see him in our yard from time to time, and Sally tells me she has seen him come out of our workshop as if he were sleeping there. He and Camille (our only cat with outdoor privileges) do not get along. Here Madison is encroaching on Camille's spot. It's her hiding place, and cool spot for lounging. I have never gotten this close to Madison, because he usually lumbers out of the yard when I approach. Today, though, he was NOT going to give up that spot. I got close enough for him to sniff my fingers, but there was some growling and hissing when I tried to move a branch out of the line of vision. He's a pretty big guy, so I was a little nervous.
I didn't expect to see bighorn sheep in the grasslands of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, but there they were. Which makes me wonder what their original range might have been.
Crossing over the Bering land bridge from Siberia, the species' population in North America peaked in the millions. Much as the bison did for Native American tribes in the Great West, bighorn sheep were sources of food, clothing, and tools for tribes in the mountainous regions of the west. Petroglyphs featuring bighorns are among the most common images across all western U.S. states.
By 1900, encroachment from human settlers diminished the population to several thousand. Bighorn sheep have made a comeback thanks to a conservation movement supported by President Theodore Roosevelt, reintroductions, national parks, and managed hunting. Unfortunately some subspecies, such as Ovis canadensis auduboni of the Black Hills, were driven into extinction.
Source: www.nwf.org/Home/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Mam...
The gallery, inner courtyard and center temple of Angkor Wat in the rain. Note the small figure, lower right, sheltering from the rain. Angkor Wat is the largest religious monument in the world, built during the heyday of the Khmer Empire in the 12th century, originally as a Hindu temple, then converted to a Buddhist temple. Unlike most of the temples in the surrounding area, it was never completely abandoned. The moat may have protected it to some extent from encroachment of the jungle. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. At the larger size you can see a number of birds and insects in the sky above the temple. The building at the centre right below the tall palm tree, between the two long galleries, is one of the two library buildings at the site.
28/04/16 www.allenfotowild.com
Elephants, largest of all land animals, are among the most recognizable and beloved creatures on Earth. Their ancestors once roamed most of the planet, but wild populations are now confined to decreasing swaths of land in Africa and Asia. Hunted mercilessly for their prized ivory tusks, they are under threat in most of their range from poaching, habitat loss, and human encroachment and are listed as threatened by the IUCN. The males are pushed out of the herds once they reach sexual maturity and form coalitions with other males and will only reach out to the herd during breeding season, however that chance only goes to the bigger meaner bulls. A two shot Pano.
Near The Gulf Of Mexico
Southwestern Florida
USA
Best Viewed In Lightbox-
www.flickr.com/photos/42964440@N08/48298774426/in/photost...
Image taken at the Naples Zoo. Athena is the animal I talk about at the zoo for three hours on Mondays. She is a two year old Florida panther abandoned by her mother at three weeks of age. Biologists who were tracking her mother found the kitten and gave her to the zoo to take care of, and we were told we could have her at the zoo permanently. She has some amazing eyes, and currently weighs about 80 pounds.
Wikipedia - The Florida panther is a North American cougar P. c. couguar population. In South Florida, it lives in pinelands, hardwood hammocks, and mixed swamp forests.
This population, the only unequivocal cougar representative in the eastern United States, currently occupies 5% of its historic range. In the 1970s, an estimated 20 Florida panthers remained in the wild, but their numbers had increased to an estimated 230 by 2017.
In 1982, the Florida panther was chosen as the Florida state animal. It was formerly classified as a distinct puma subspecies (Puma concolor coryi).
The Florida panther has a natural predator, the American alligator. Humans also threaten it through poaching and wildlife control measures. Besides predation, the biggest threat to their survival is human encroachment. Historical persecution reduced this wide-ranging, large carnivore to a small area of south Florida. This created a tiny, isolated population that became inbred (revealed by kinked tails and heart and sperm problems).
The two highest causes of mortality for individual Florida panthers are automobile collisions and territorial aggression between panthers.
To read more about Florida panthers visit - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_panther
International trade is prohibited by the Wildlife Protection Act in India.[citation needed] Snow Leopard Foundation (SLF) in Pakistan conducts research on the current status of Himalayan brown bears in the Pamir Range in Gilgit-Baltistan, a promising habitat for the bears and a wildlife corridor connecting bear populations in Pakistan to central Asia.
The project also intends to investigate the conflicts humans have with the bears, while promoting tolerance for bears in the region through environmental education. SLF received funding from the Prince Bernhard Nature Fund and Alertis.Unlike other brown bear subspecies, which are found in good numbers,[6] the Himalayan brown bear is highly endangered.
They are poached for their fur and claws for ornamental purposes and internal organs for use in medicines. They are killed by shepherds to protect their livestock and their home is destroyed by human encroachment. In Himachal, their home is the Kugti and Tundah wildlife sanctuaries and the tribal Chamba region. The tree bearing the state flower of Himachal, buransh, is the favourite habitat of the bear. Due to the high value of the buransh tree, it is commercially cut causing further destruction to the brown bear's home.
The populations in Pakistan are slow reproducing, small, and declining because of habitat loss, fragmentation, poaching, and bear-baiting. In India, brown bears are present in 23 protected areas in the northern states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttaranchal, but only in two of these the bears are regarded as fairly common. There are about 150- 200 bears in total.
...'cept lean against this fence.
HFF
By the way, folks, my title here isn't intended as a statement against zoos, necessarily, but just seemed to fit the image.
The Regenstein Center for African Apes at Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo, where this photo was taken, is billed as one of the best great ape habitats in the country, and features large naturalistic living spaces, both indoors and out for endangered gorillas and chimpanzees. The habitat includes fallen logs, a waterfall, termite mounds, dozens of trees and 5,000 feet of artificial vines for climbing. Populations of African apes are facing dramatic decline in the wild due to poaching, loss of habitat, disease and encroachment by humans.
Hobart is the capital city of Tasmania, nestled into the foothills of the majestic Mt Wellington / kunanyi which rises 1,271 metres above sea level. The mountain watches over the city and sometimes even protects it from icy weather blasts that come across the Southern Ocean from Antarctica. It has been known to snow up there even in midsummer.
Hobart was settled in 1804 as a British penal colony. The indigenous semi-nomadic Mouheneener people, had probably entered the area more than 35,000 years ago. They had come to this cold climate island from what is now mainland Australia via a land bridge that existed until around 14,000 years ago at the end of the last Ice Age. That's a REAL rise in sea levels (at least 50 metres) - climate change long before humans ever reached massive population numbers. Food for thought.
Those early pioneers would not recognise the place now. The change in the land in 35,000 years was imperceptible. Since 1804 everything has changed, and the Mouheneener people have all but gone. But there are survivors who have lived to tell the stories of their ancestors and speak of the protection of kunanyi (Mt Wellington). These are the true inheritors of the spirit of this place, but this land is part of all of us now, from the earliest convicts (and their jailers) to the waves of immigrants over the past 200 years.
Hobart continues to grow - mercifully slower than most other cities in Australia. The current population is just 253,000 at a growth rate of 2.5 percent.
This is the city where the modern environmental movement began. Not just in Australia, but in fact around the world (the first Greens Party in the world was founded here). From the 1950s groups started to form to defend the wilderness against the encroachment of the bulldozer and the chainsaw. Immigrant photographers like Olegas Truchanas and Peter Dombrovskis led the way, and their wilderness photos educated people in a manner that changed a whole culture.
Hobart is beautiful. Let's keep it that way!
Das Frühlings-Adonisröschen stammt ursprünglich aus Sibirien und dem Altai. Die Einwanderung des Frühlings-Adonisröschen nach Mitteleuropa erfolgte erst am Ende der letzten Eiszeit, der Weichseleiszeit. Durch die Tätigkeit der Menschen, Waldrodung und Schafzucht wurden neue Standorte für das Frühlings-Adonisröschen geschaffen. Verbuschung, Wiederbewaldung und der Ackerbau drängten diese Art in Mitteleuropa auf ihre heutigen Reliktvorkommen (sog. Xerothermrelikte) zurück. Alle drei zuletzt genannten Faktoren gefährden auch weiterhin diese mitteleuropäischen Standorte, die ohne Landschaftspflegemaßnahmen auch nicht erhalten bleiben würden.
In Deutschland kommt das anspruchsvolle Frühlings-Adonisröschen als westlicher Vorposten vor allem in den neuen Bundesländern vor; dort in trockenen Gegenden wie in Brandenburg – wobei das Frühlings-Adonisröschen immer nur lokal verbreitet ist. Nördlich von Frankfurt (Oder) gibt es einige Standorte, so in Mallnow., einem Ortsteil der brandenburgischen Stadt Lebus. Der kleine Ort liegt an der Schnittstelle der Seelower Höhen zum Oderbruch und bietet so ein bemerkenswertes Landschaftspanorama. Jährlich im Frühling ist der Ort Ausgangspunkt für viele Wanderer, die die Adonisröschenblüte im 309 Hektar großen Naturschutzgebiet Oderhänge Mallnow (wegen ihrer Steppenrasenvegetation auch Pontische Hänge genannt) nördlich des Ortes anschauen wollen.
The spring pheasant's eye originally comes from Siberia and the Altai Mountains. The immigration of the spring pheasant's eye to Central Europe only took place at the end of the last ice age, the Weichselian gliciation. Human activity, forest clearing and sheep breeding created new habitats for the spring pheasant's eye. Scrub encroachment, reforestation and arable farming pushed this species back to its present-day relict occurrences (so-called xerotherm relicts) in Central Europe. All three of the latter factors continue to threaten these Central European sites, which would also not be preserved without landscape management measures.
In Germany, the demanding spring pheasant's eye occurs as a western outpost mainly in the eastern federal states; there in dry areas such as Brandenburg - although the spring pheasant's eye is always only locally widespread. North of Frankfurt (Oder) there are a few locations, for example in Mallnow, a village incorporated into the Brandenburg town of Lebus. The small village lies at the junction of the Seelow Heights and the Oderbruch (Oder Marshlands)and thus offers a remarkable landscape panorama. Every year in spring, the village is the starting point for many hikers who want to see the Adonis rose blossom in the 309-hectare nature reserve of the Mallnow Slopes (also called Pontic Slopes because of its steppe grassland vegetation) north of the village.
Bighorn Sheep of the Canadian Rockies
There are two subspecies of the bighorn – Californiana (California Bighorn Sheep) and Canadensis (Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep).
In Canada, the Bighorn Sheep are found in scattered parts of southern British Columbia and more prolifically in western Alberta, in the Canadian Rockies. Their range continues down into the American Rockies, and they can be found as far south as Mexico’s Baja Peninsula.
The Bighorn’s ideal environment has a dry climate and is rugged with areas plentiful of low grasses and herbs. Herds will often migrate long distances in the winter to areas with minimal snowfall.
There are just over 3,000 Bighorn Sheep in British Columbia, and the population there is considered vulnerable in part due to human encroachment on their habitats. In Alberta, however, where the mammal is the official provincial mammal, the Bighorn Sheep is considered secure, with more than 11,000 inhabiting its national parks and provincial lands, representing over 15% of the Bighorn Sheep population in North America.
For more Info: naturecanada.ca/news/blog/the-bighorn-sheep-majestic-and-...
Southern Ground-hornbills are both culturally and ecologically important. They are hailed across their sub-Saharan range as the thunderbirds or rainbirds. They are also a valuable flagship species for the savannah biome as they are easily recognizable and with such large spatial requirements, any successful conservation action in even one of their expansive territories benefits all the other savanna and grassland species, including threatened species such as vultures, wild dog, and cheetah. Their populations continue to decline towards being "Critically Endangered" in South Africa. The reasons for their decline are predominantly loss of habitat to bush-encroachment and development, overgrazing, large-scale monoculture, loss of large nesting trees, besides secondary poisoning, lead toxicosis from spent lead ammunition, and electrocution on transformer boxes.
Info sourced from ground-hornbill.org.za/
Photo capture date & Location: 2017-02 Bushtime at Mabula
SW San Luis Obispo Co., California
A very rare plant occurring in several colonies within only a few square miles. Besides human encroachment, this very small plant species has been crowded out by the non-native Veldt Grass, Ehrharta calycina, which has extended its range in San Luis Obispo Co. in recent years.
California Rare Plant Rank: 1B.1
Philip Mould:
The portrait of King James of Scotland by Vanson is an important and revealing glimpse of the monarch before his accession to the throne of England and the consequent union of the crowns, and it provides perhaps the last suggestion of the private man before his transformation in the more majestic and iconic images painted after 1603. The diffident, hesitant character, combined with a hint of shrewdness, suggested by Vanson's portrait would seem from the record to be an honest reflection of that monarch's temperament, and a product of his experience.
When his mother Mary Stuart abdicated in July 1567 the new King was barely one year old. His minority was marked by the ceaseless plotting of competing noble factions, and the conflicting interests of pro-French and pro-English parties. As a result, James's principal aim was always to steer a middle course between the extremes that were presented to him. He tried to avoid taking sides with France or with England, and saw himself as a mediator between the violent and self-interested Scottish nobility and the political encroachments of the puritan clergy. In 1586 by the Treaty of Berwick he was forced at least to appear to favour the cause of England and Queen Elizabeth, and was had to accept the fact of his mother''s death sentence later in the year. Throughout his reign in both countries he remained true to his chosen motto beati pacifici ''Blessed are the peacemakers.''
In any case, he could afford to play a waiting game. The throne of England would be his eventually, despite Elizabeth's refusal to name him or anyone as her heir, and when he acceded he could then enjoy the wealth and liberty that had been lacking in Scotland. He was able to play a part on the world stage, and again through making peace with Spain in 1622 whilst also favouring his son-in-law the protestant Elector Palatine he imagined that he was Europe's mediator. His reputation was damaged by his celebrated dependency on and devotion to his favourites (although this was not unusual in the European courts of the early seventeenth century) and by the repugnance of his new subjects for the Spanish whom they had demonised for over half a century. His foreign policy fell apart with the beginning of the Thirty Years War, when the Elector's claimed the throne of Bohemia leading to renewed war with Spain. Yet it is worth noting that many of the tensions that were to lead to the Civil War in 1642 were already present in Jacobean England, and that the King - perhaps more prudent, certainly more cautious, than his son and reluctant to be seen to champion any party - stifled them to some degree.
This likeness is dated to 1595, on the evidence of two portraits attributed to Vanson in the collection of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh. It broadly repeats the composition of PG 156, in which the King is shown at half-length wearing a fur-trimmed cloak and tall hat slanting at an angle into the left of the picture. A small tondo (PG 1109), paired with a portrait of the Queen, places the king more centrally - losing something of the drama created by the diagonal within the rectangle of this composition - but agrees in all the principal details. Each is dated in an inscription to 1595, which accords with the sitter's apparent age (twenty nine) and a terminus post quem is provided by the King''s jewelled hat badge in the form of a crowned ''A'', which refers to Anne of Denmark whom he married in 1589 by proxy and then in person in the following year. The magnificence of this jewel indicates a love of such objects on the King's part, which we may take as a true representation of his taste. The later portraits of c.1608 by John de Critz (example: Dulwich Picture Gallery, London) famously show a different and even larger jewel worn in the King''s hat.
Adrian Vanson had arrived in Scotland by 1584, and succeeded his fellow Netherlander Arnold Brockorst as painter to the King. Bronckorst had been the king's painter since the monarch's minority, and had painted the famous portrait of the child-king James VI holding a small hawk. The selection of this earlier Dutchman as King''s painter is highly significant, therefore: he could not have been chosen by the King himself, but rather by his regents, and it is symptomatic of the extraordinary change of direction in the Scottish state and religion after the flight and abdication of Mary Stuart in 1567. Previously Scotland's ties had always been with Catholic France, and it was to French art that Scottish painting in the sixteenth century looked for inspiration. Just as the country's religion was reformed after Mary, so its art also took on a decidedly protestant character, and it was natural that James's court should employ painters from militantly Protestant Holland.
It is suggested that Vanson may have entered Scottish court circles in the retinue of George 5th Lord Seton1, who travelled extensively in protestant Europe and is known to have employed a continental painter who supplied images for James's coinage in 1575 and 1582. The similarity of these likenesses to Vanson's portraits of James VI and John Knox (now known only from their engravings in that writer's Icones of 1580), which were sent to the Calvinist reformer Theodore Beza in Geneva, makes it possible that Vanson and Lord Seton's painter are one and the same person. Certainly Vanson painted Lord Seton in a portrait now in the collection of the Scottish National Gallery. The two portraits sent to Geneva, for which the painter received payment in June 1581, are his earliest certain works in Scotland. Their subject matter and use is entirely compatible with the aggressive programme of cultural reformation that was taking place at the Scottish court at his time. Subsequently Vanson's name appears regularly in the royal accounts, and in 1594 he was presented with a medal by the King, which refers to him as ''Our painter.''2 Like other court painters at this period his duties extended beyond the execution of scale-of-life portraits. He also painted miniatures and was responsible for the visual effect of temporary spectacle. In 1590 he produced the trumpeters' banners used at the coronation of Queen Anne of Denmark.
Although he was made a free burgess of the city of Edinburgh with the intention of founding an academy to train painters the development of a Scottish school was hampered by the removal of the court to London in 1603. Vanson is last mentioned in records as attending a Christening in 1602. His son Adam (fl.1622 - 1628) - who took his mother's name of de Colone - was also a court painter, producing a number of portraits of King James VI and I.
1. Duncan Thomson Adrian Vanson in The Grove Dictionary of Art Online, ed. L. Macy
2. Tabitha Barber in Karen Hearn Dynasties Tate Gallery Exhibition catalogue 1995. p.172
More leopard photos because why not, they are beautiful - we did see them every day sometimes multiple times a day during our safari days, so I have a few images to share.
This particular leopard we saw several different days and times. It is approximately 20 months old and recently separated from her mother. She has a very short tail, much like a bobcat (we nicknamed it ‘bobcat’, our guide thought that was great when we explained to him what a bobcat was). She likely lost the tail due to an injury or an infection due to injury or likewise, but has had it this way since it was tiny so very used to it. Was so cute to see it waddle away with its little tail going back and forth.
Our guide had seen the mother with a kill recently and invited this leopard back to share in her feast. This is common for the leopards to do when they are set out on their own to make sure they are getting food while they figure this hunting thing on their own out.
Male leopards weigh 38 to 91kg (85 to 200 lbs), females 27 to 59kg (60 to 130 lbs) with a lifespan of 12-17 years. Of the nine sub-species of leopard, African leopards are the least endangered. However, due to ongoing habitat loss and human encroachment, African leopards are a species that the conservation community is monitoring closely. Thankfully in this area, they are doing fairly well and are monitored closely, this includes reports from the highly educated guides in this area.
The African leopard shows a great of variation in it’s coat color depending on the location and habitat in which it lives, it can vary from pale yellow to deep gold. Their spots are actually clusters of black, yellow, and tan markings called “rosettes”. (because of the spot’s resemblance to a rose shape) These rosettes are unique to each individual leopard, similar to human fingerprints.
South Luangwa was known as ‘The Valley of the Leopard’, before it gained fame as the birthplace of the 'walking safari'.
Bighorn Sheep of the Canadian Rockies
There are two subspecies of the bighorn – Californiana (California Bighorn Sheep) and Canadensis (Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep).
In Canada, the Bighorn Sheep are found in scattered parts of southern British Columbia and more prolifically in western Alberta, in the Canadian Rockies. Their range continues down into the American Rockies, and they can be found as far south as Mexico’s Baja Peninsula.
The Bighorn’s ideal environment has a dry climate and is rugged with areas plentiful of low grasses and herbs. Herds will often migrate long distances in the winter to areas with minimal snowfall.
There are just over 3,000 Bighorn Sheep in British Columbia, and the population there is considered vulnerable in part due to human encroachment on their habitats. In Alberta, however, where the mammal is the official provincial mammal, the Bighorn Sheep is considered secure, with more than 11,000 inhabiting its national parks and provincial lands, representing over 15% of the Bighorn Sheep population in North America.
For more Info: naturecanada.ca/news/blog/the-bighorn-sheep-majestic-and-...
The damming of Zakariasvatnet with a 96 metre high concrete dam in 1968 was one of the largest encroachments into the natural environment in our district.
One of the rarest Dragonflies in the UK.
27th June 2019 Whixall Moss Shropshire UK
Weight1
Latin NameLeucorrhinia dubia
Habitat
A species of lowland peatbogs.
It requires relatively deep, oligotrophic, acidic bog pools with considerable rafts of Sphagnum at the edges in which to breed.
Larvae also occur among waterlogged Sphagnum in depressions devoid of standing water.
The larvae live within the matrix of submerged and floating sphagnum and are confined to waters without fish. Away from its aquatic habitat it also requires scrub or woodland, which provides important roosting and feeding sites.
Threats
The main threats to this species come from habitat destruction and fragmentation, removal of Sphagnum Moss, Succession, changes in site hydrology, pollution and eutrophication, predation, climate change, and the impact of people visiting inhabited sites.
Status & Distribution
In Britain the White-faced Darter is a rare dragonfly having declined, notably in England, in the last 35 years. It is the subject of Biodiversity Action Plans in Cheshire and Cumbria.
In Britain the White-faced Darter is found at isolated sites from the Midlands to north Scotland and Chartley Moss is currently the most southerly distribution in the UK. Major strongholds for the species occur in the highlands of Scotland. The populations in both Inverness-shire and Ross-shire are particularly important.
Similar Species
Can be confused with the Black Darter but can be distinguish by its white face.
Management
General management principles include maintenance of the lowland peatland habitat, control of scrub encroachment, and maintenance of both the water quality and quantity. Best practice guidelines have also been suggested for management of inhabited sites, focusing on the control of scrub and management of the aquatic vegetation within bog pools. Habitat creation and restoration should be considered as an option where possible.
Species GroupDragonflies
Identification Notes
Length: 33-37mm
Pale creamy white patch on the front of the head.
Wings have small black patches at the base.
Male: red and orange markings.
Female and immatures: yellow markings.
Flight PeriodWhite-faced Darter Courtesy - British Dragonflies
A herd of elephants in Green Park, London. " 'CoExistence' is an environmental art exhibition featuring 100 life size lantana elephants. These elephants are making their way around the globe to tell the story of our over-populated planet, the effect of human encroachment on wild spaces and the inspiring ways we can coexist with animals."
6A92 running 180 late at Hathersage. 66566 doing the honours coming out of the bushes
Hope the Sunday dinner isn't burnt. This should have passed around 09:30, but due to overrunning engineering works on the Trans Pennine upgrade works, this passed around 12:15, arriving at Toton well after lunchtime.
Sadly vegetation encroachment looks to be blocking the classic shot here.
As war chief of the Oglala Sioux, Crazy Horse led the Sioux resistance to white encroachment in the mineral-rich Black Hills. In 1877, he was imprisoned by the U.S. military at Fort Robinson, Nebraska because he was rumored to be planning a revolt. He was killed by a soldier at the fort while reportedly attempting to escape. Considered a brave and skillful warrior, Crazy Horse is revered by the Sioux as their greatest leader.
Located at Thunderhead Mt. near Custer, South Dakota, the memorial was begun in 1948 by American sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski (d. 1982) - at the invitation of Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear - to honor the culture, tradition, and living heritage of North American Indians. Korczak's wife, Ruth, and seven of their ten children continue to lead the project for the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation, a non-profit organization.
The annual Crazy Horse Volksmarch - held the first full weekend in June - is the only time each year the public can walk to the mount. This photo was taken on the Volksmarch in June 2000; the viewpoint is through carved out space between what is to become the bottom of Crazy Horse's arm and the top of the horse's neck.
Learn more about Crazy Horse Memorial at the official web site: www.crazyhorse.org/
Thick, humid morning air is split by the warm tones of a Nathan P5 airhorn and the charge of Norfolk Southern SD70 2550 leading NS Train 274-04 (Decatur, Ill.–Winston-Salem, N. C., autos) at Wiggins, east of Bement, Ill., on the NS Lafayette District.
Train 274 is passing over former Wabash territory as the wayside signal hardware on either side of the train clearly indicates. NS engineering forces and contractors elsewhere on the Lafayette District are busy installing and preparing for cutover new signal hardware that will ultimately retire the Wabash-era searchlights in this corridor. As of the date of this image, just two control points — Wiggins and Veech, about four miles to the west — remained "pure Wabash" and free of any encroachment by new signal installations.
It's year one of a further sixteen in extended service for Pacific Pm36-2 as head of Wolsztyn's museum fleet and as such a desirable catch.
The big engine in subtle olive green departs upon 14.40 Poznań Główny-Wolsztyn service seen at lineside when an amount of 'sensible' encroachment seemed to be tolerated.
6th March 1996
P1090862 - Indian Rhinoceros
# 192
Mother with her Subadult - At - Kaziranga National Park - Assam - Eastern Himalayas.
Also Cattle Egrets n others friends are seen ...
WONDERFUL FACTS: Indian Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis), also called the Greater One-horned Rhinoceros and Great Indian Rhinoceros - is native to the Indian subcontinent. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.
as populations are fragmented and restricted to less than 20,000 sq km (7,700 sq mi). Moreover, the extent and quality of the rhino's most important habitat, alluvial grassland and riverine forest, is considered to be in decline due to human and livestock encroachment.
Indian rhinoceros once ranged throughout the entire stretch of the Indo-Gangetic Plain, but excessive hunting and agricultural development reduced their range drastically to 11 sites in northern India and southern Nepal. (wikipedia)
Happy birding 🐾
A 15 minute exposure of the night sky over Mount Hood from Trillium Lake.
There were no clouds when I started this exposure but soon after the clouds came marching in to obscure the mountain and reflect the light from town.
Harsh reality of Yele Mallappa Shetty Lake, R K Puram, Bengaluru. Dry Lake, full of weeds and debris. Causes could be several.
According to The Indian Express," the National Green Tribunal has directed the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) and the minor irrigation department to file independent reports on the actions taken against encroachment and pollution of the Yele Mallappa Shetty lake in eastern Bengaluru on or before March 31."
The soft rays of the rising sun gently baptizes a long deserted dairy barn and its round shouldered 13 windowed companion. Years ago when neighbors drove by this farmstead they knew at a glance what that family did to make a living. Today many younger people would be hard-pressed to describe what went on in these buildings.
Over the last few years I have had the privilege of talking to hundreds of older folks at shows where I exhibit country photographs. It is stimulating to see the reaction of older gray-haired farm folks when I ask them what they did in life. The eyes of many light up and for a few moments they are young again as they tell about the days when they got up in the morning darkness and labored hard until dark again greeted them at night. Though the encroachment of old age has stooped their bodies, their spirit of who they were remains ever youthful.
International trade is prohibited by the Wildlife Protection Act in Pakistan. Snow Leopard Foundation (SLF) in Pakistan conducts research on the current status of Himalayan brown bears in the Pamir Range in Gilgit-Baltistan, a promising habitat for the bears and a wildlife corridor connecting bear populations in Pakistan to central Asia. The project also intends to investigate the conflicts humans have with the bears, while promoting tolerance for bears in the region through environmental education. SLF received funding from the Prince Bernhard Nature Fund and Alertis. [3] Unlike its American cousin, which is found in good numbers, the Himalayan Brown Bear is critically endangered. They are poached for their fur and claws for ornamental purposes and internal organs for use in medicines. They are killed by shepherds to protect their livestock and their home is destroyed by human encroachment. In Himachal, their home is the Kugti and Tundah wildlife sanctuaries and the tribal Chamba region. Their estimated population is just 20 in Kugti and 15 in Tundah. The tree bearing the state flower of Himachal — buransh — is the favourite hangout of this bear. Due to the high value of the buransh tree, it is being commercially cut causing further destruction to the brown bear’s home. [4] The Himalayan brown bear is a critically endangered species in some of its range with a population of only 150-200 in Pakistan. The populations in Pakistan are slow reproducing, small, and declining because of habitat loss, fragmentation, poaching, and bear baiting
The plains zebra is the most common and geographically widespread species of zebra. Its range is fragmented, but spans much of southern and eastern Africa south of the Sahara. Six or seven subspecies have been recognised, including the extinct quagga which was thought to be a separate species. More recent research supports variations in zebra populations being clines rather than subspecies.
Plains zebras are intermediate in size between the larger Grévy's zebra and the smaller mountain zebra and tend to have broader stripes than both. Great variation in coat patterns exists between clines and individuals. The plains zebra's habitat is generally, but not exclusively, treeless grasslands and savanna woodlands, both tropical and temperate. They generally avoid desert, dense rainforest and permanent wetlands. Zebras are preyed upon by lions and spotted hyenas, Nile crocodiles and, to a lesser extent, leopards, cheetahs and African wild dogs.
Plains zebras are a highly social species, forming harems with a single stallion, several mares and their recent offspring; bachelor groups also form. Groups may come together to form herds. The animals keep watch for predators; they bark or snort when they see a predator and the harem stallion attacks predators to defend his harem.
The plains zebra remains common in game reserves, but is threatened by human activities such as hunting for its meat and hide, as well as competition with livestock and encroachment by farming on much of its habitat, and is listed as near threatened by the IUCN as of 2016. The species population is stable and not endangered, though populations in most countries have declined sharply.