African Elephants recognised as two separate species.

African elephants have always been considered the same species, but in reality they had split from each other into two distinct species over 5 - 6 million years ago, around the time when humans separated from chimpanzees. The savanna elephant is larger, has curving tusks, and roams the open plains of sub-Saharan Africa. The smaller, darker forest elephant, with straight tusks, lives in the equatorial forests of Central and West Africa.

Now, for the first time, scientists have separately evaluated how the two are faring—and the findings are grim.

Courtesy of Kelly Ma

NewsKim McCoy21 April 2021Elephant, IUCN Red LIst, Conservation, Wildlife ConservationComment

Discovery of female brings hope for endangered turtle species.

A female Yangtze giant softshell turtle has been discovered in a large Vietnamese lake, one and a half year after the last female (considered to be ‘last’ until recently) had passed away in Suzhou Chinese Zoo. The recent discovery has brought renewed hope and opportunity for the species to continue.

Courtesy of Kelly Ma.

Kim McCoy15 January 2021Turtle, Giant Softshell Turtle, Conservation, IUCN Red LIstComment

How the pandemic is affecting Nara Park deer.

Japan’s famed Nara deer have been considered national treasures for decades. But the recent pandemic has led to a drastic decrease in tourists visiting Nara Park, which has meant that the deer have not only had to revert to their normal food source instead of the nutrient packed rice crackers, but are now roaming further away from the park in search of something similar.

Courtesy of Daphne Ng.

Kim McCoy22 October 2020Sika Deer, Nara Park, ConservationComment

Tasmania devils reintroduced into Australian wild.

Tasmanian devils have been reintroduced into the wild in mainland Australia for the first time in 3,000 years. The reintroduction has been described as “an incredible example of how to re-wild our planet, bringing back the natural systems to the benefit of all life on Earth.”

Courtesy of Marco Poon.

Kim McCoy12 October 2020Tasmanian devil, Reintroduction, Breeding progam, Conservation

Facial recognition AI created for birds.

New research has demonstrated for the first time that artificial intelligence (AI) can recognise individual birds in the wild. It is the first successful attempt at performing individual recognition on small birds and uses technology which is similar to software that remembers faces on social media.

Courtesy of Amelia Wang.

Kim McCoy21 August 2020Birds, AI, Technology, Bird identification, Conservation

"It is not only a sin to kill a mockingbird, it is also a crime"

A federal judge in New York has invalidated rule changes by the Trump administration that allowed individuals and corporations to kill large numbers of migratory birds as long as they could prove they did not intentionally set out to do so.

Kim McCoy15 August 2020Birds, Mockingbird, Migratory birds, To Kill A Mockingbird, ConservationComment

Biggest shark fin seizure in Hong Kong history.

Hong Kong Customs have made their largest ever shark fin seizure, uncovering 26 tonnes taken from 38,500 sharks estimated to be worth HKD$8.6 million.

Kim McCoy7 May 2020Shark, Shark Fin, Conservation, EnvironmentComment

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