Dr. David Hetherington has spent over a decade looking at the feasibility (可行性) of reintroducing the Eurasian lynx (欧洲猞猁) to Scotland. In his new book, The Lynx and Us, Hetherington takes an in-depth look at the many issues surrounding this topic.

Hetherington begins there introduction discussion by establishing the history and ecology of the lynx, in relation to both human-lynx coexistence and geographical variations in distribution. Habitat and range requirements, prey (猎物) preferences and hunting methods are also detailed.

Armed with this background information, the reader is then taken through the nitty-gritty of lynx reintroduction by addressing the potential issues, many of which are based on human-wildlife conflict, such as safety and the impact of wild lynx, with much of the information backed up by conservation and research findings associated with the reintroductions of lynx in Europe. Hetherington addresses the significant problem of man-made barriers such as roads and rails. There are also considerations regarding prey species that are unused to having natural predators (捕食者) in their midst and the impact on prey populations.

The book looks at the feasibility of lynx reintroduction in the UK. While the reintroduction of lynx to Scotland is shown to be ecologically feasible, how desirable is it? Hetherington addresses each of the issues in-turn, using the significant knowledgebase that now exists regarding lynx ecology and the findings of research into lynx and their reintroductions elsewhere.

For anyone with an interest in lynx re wilding, The Lynx and Us is the “go-to” book.

Peter Cairns, director of there wilding charity SCOTLAND: The Big Picture, the book’s publisher, says, “With a growing national discussion about the advantages of restoring missing native species, it’s important that we all have access to balanced, factual information on which to base our opinions. That’s what this book sets out to provide.”

A day in the life of a sun bear is what you might expect from the name: sunny. In its natural habitat, the sun bear spends over 80 percent of its active waking time in daylight.

But when disturbed by human activity, that changes dramatically. In areas where people are pushing into the sun bear’s habitat, the animals are spending 90 percent of their waking time after dark. Effectively, the threat of human presence is making the sun bear change into “the moon bear”.

Led by scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, the study found that human activity is driving scores of mammals to shift their activity from the daytime into the dark hours of the night. As many animals have already been forced out of their local habitats, others are attempting to avoid interaction with humans by separating themselves in time rather than in space.

For the work, the researchers examined the behaviors of 64 mammal species, including deer, tigers, boars, and, of course, sun bears. They observed increased nocturnal (夜间的) behavior in a large majority of them, with species that are naturally active during the day tending to shift their activity to after dark, and those that are naturally nocturnal becoming more so. The mammals affected ranged across body size, habitat type, region of the world, and diet.

Human activity of all sorts affect animals，lives, including activities like hunting, agriculture and land development, harvesting local natural resources, even hiking or walking through wild areas. Sport hunting in the Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe drove antelopes to spend more of their active waking hours at night, restricting their access to water. Similarly, hikers in the Santa Cruz Mountains in California made coyotes (郊狼) more nocturnal, forcing them to find new preys (猎物) among traditionally nocturnal animals.

The researchers warn that profound shifts in the natural behavior patterns of so many species disturb dynamics that have evolved over generations, leading to a series of unknown effects on the entire ecosystems.

A growing demand for turtles(乌龟) as pets in the United States, Asia, and Europe has led to a rise in poaching. Poaching means to catch or kill an animal illegally. Wildlife trade experts believe the rise in poaching is adding to the worldwide drop in rare freshwater turtles. Such concerns have led to proposals to increase protection for freshwater turtles.

More than 180 nations have gathered this week in Panama as part of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES.

Tara Easter, a doctoral student, studies the trade. She looked at turtle trade data from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. She found that the business export trade for mud turtles in the United States increased from 1,844 in 1999 to nearly 40,000 in 2017 and that the trade in musk turtles increased from 8,254 in 1999 to more than 281,000 in 2016.

The United States and several Latin American countries have suggested stopping or limiting the trade in more than 20 turtle species. In their CITES proposal, the countries included data from Mexico that found nearly 20,000 were confiscated from 2010 to 2022. To confiscate means to take something away from someone to carry out laws or rules.

The illegal trade has also led governments to suggest listing for the first time 42 turtle species under CITES, including North American musk turtles. A listing means traders will need permits to sell them internationally.

Matthew Strickler is with the U.S. Department of the Interior. He is heading the American group at the CITES meeting in Panama. He called the possible listings and increased protection for North American turtles “really, really important”.

“We’ve seen this pattern of turtles being depleted in one place, and then poachers and traders moving to another place,” Strickler said. “Southeast Asia was depleted. They moved to Africa. Now, we see them moving to the Americas.”