#animalextinction — Public Fediverse posts

Marsupials thought extinct for 6,000 years found in West Papua

In an astonishing discovery, two marsupial species believed to be extinct for 6,000 years have been rediscovered alive and well in the remote rainforests of West Papua. The pygmy long-fingered possum and the ring-tailed glider were located with the crucial assistance of local indigenous Vogelkop clans. However, their survival remains precarious as their habitats are increasingly threatened by logging and the expansion of the palm oil colonialism in West Papua. Laws and native title to protect this region is essential for indigenous land defenders. We musn’t let them disappear again #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife

Two #extinct #marsupials in #WestPapua found alive! The #marsupials highlight the need to protect #Papuan forests or they are gone for good! Resist for them and #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife when you shop 🌴🙊🔥☠️🚫 @palmoildetect #Boycott4Wildlife https://wp.me/pcFhgU-iOH

Two #possums thought extinct for 6000 years are alive in #WestPapua! The pygmy #possum and sacred ring-tailed #glider are #nature’s battlers who deserve a break from #palmoil ecocide. Stand with #indigenous defenders against palm oil #colonialism! 🌴🚫 @palmoildetect #BoycottPalmOil https://wp.me/pcFhgU-iOH

https://youtu.be/T1uWC5ZE4KI

Two extraordinarily rare marsupials, entirely believed to have been extinct for over six thousand years, have been discovered alive in the remote, Vogelkop mountain forests of the Bird’s Head peninsula in West Papua. This remarkable rediscovery of the pygmy long-fingered possum and the ring-tailed glider was confirmed by Australian scientist Professor Tim Flannery, alongside a team of local indigenous experts and university researchers.

“More important than finding a living thylacine in Tasmania.”

Scott Hucknull from Central Queensland University describes the magnitude of the discovery.

These species are rare examples of “Lazarus taxa”. Animals who disappear from the fossil record only to be found alive centuries later. Flannery noted that the likelihood of finding even one lost mammal was almost zero, let alone two.

“It’s unprecedented and groundbreaking, really, to find two Lazarus taxa,” Flannery says. “We’ve been able to finalise two pieces of work that are incredibly important from a biological and a conservation perspective, documenting the existence of rare marsupials in an area under threat. It’s sort of a crowning glory in my career as a biologist.”

The first of the resurrected species is the pygmy long-fingered possum, Dactylonax kambuayai. This tiny, striped marsupial possesses an extraordinary evolutionary trait: an elongated fourth finger on each hand that is double the length of other digits. Flannery explains that they use this finger to extract grubs from timber.

“They’ve got a whole lot of specialisations in their ear region as well, which seem to be related to detection of low-frequency sound. So presumably they’re listening for wood-boring beetle larvae, and they then rip open the rotting wood and use that finger to fish out the grub,” Flannery says.

The second species, the ring-tailed glider (Tous ayamaruensis), features unfurred ears and a strong, prehensile tail used for gripping branches. Flannery calls it “one of the most photogenic animals, most beautiful marsupials you’ll ever see.”

Crucially, the rediscovery of these elusive creatures was entirely dependent on the profound ecological knowledge of the local Tambrauw and Maybrat clans. These indigenous communities view the ring-tailed glider as deeply sacred, believing them to be manifestations of their ancestors’ spirits, and actively protect them from hunting. Rika Korain, a Maybrat woman and co-author of the research, emphasised that identifying the species relied entirely on traditional owners. “This connection has been essential,” she says.

“I’m very proud that Papuan researchers contributed to these landmark discoveries, and want to thank the people of the Misool, Maybrat and Tambrouw regions who supported us in the field,”

Dr Aksamina Yohanita of the University of Papua said.

“The Vogelkop is an ancient piece of the Australian continent that has become incorporated into the island of New Guinea. Its forests may shelter yet more hidden relics of a past Australia,”

Tim Flannery

To protect the remaining populations from the illegal wildlife trade, researchers are keeping their exact locations highly classified. Flannery delivered a stark warning to potential poachers regarding the animals’ survival in captivity: “They would be incredibly difficult to keep in captivity. because their diet is so highly specialised. Advanced warning for anyone who’s thinking of keeping one as a pet: it won’t live long,” he says.

While their rediscovery is a triumph, their future is highly uncertain. The proximity of power-hungry corporates intent on razing the rainforest for palm oil and timber casts a dark shadow over the region.

David Lindenmayer, an ecologist at the Australian National University, who was not involved in the study said “I am also hugely concerned about the extent of logging and land clearing happening in New Guinea,” he says. “It also makes me wonder what might have been lost in Australia as a result of all of the land clearing that has taken place here.”

The findings underline strong calls from scientists, environmentalists and indigenous rights advocates for Native Title legal land rights and indigenous-led protections of West Papua and its imperilled Vogelkop rainforest where these delightful marsupials are found.

Further information

Lam, L. (2026, March 6). Tiny possum and glider thought extinct for 6,000 years found in remote West Papua. BBC News. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwyg6p8g6yjo

Morton, A. (2026, March 6). Marsupials previously thought extinct for millennia discovered in New Guinea. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/mar/05/marsupials-discovered-new-guinea

Woodford, J. (2026, March 5). Two marsupials believed extinct for 6000 years found alive. New Scientist. https://www.newscientist.com/article/2518082-two-marsupials-believed-extinct-for-6000-years-found-alive/

ENDS

Learn about other animals endangered by palm oil and other agriculture

Gursky’s Spectral Tarsier Tarsius spectrumgurskyae

Sunda Flying Lemur Galeopterus variegatus

Western Parotia Parotia sefilata

Capped Langur Trachypithecus pileatus

Mountain Tapir Tapirus pinchaque

Saola Pseudoryx nghetinhensis

Learn about “sustainable” palm oil greenwashing

Read more about RSPO greenwashing

A 2019 World Health Organisation (WHO) report into the palm oil industry and RSPO finds extensive greenwashing of palm oil deforestation and the murder of endangered animals (i.e. biodiversity loss)

Take Action in Five Ways

1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Instagram
• WordPress
• YouTube
• Mail
• Mastodon

Enter your email address

Sign Up

2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.

Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez

Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings

Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao

Health Physician Dr Evan Allen

The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert

How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy

3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.

https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20

https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20

https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20

4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.

5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here

Forest Protection Equals Climate Protection

#Forests are critical for #climate protection and for safeguarding indigenous peoples, endangered animals and rare plants. However global #deforestation targets and environmental legislation is lax and falling short. Strong international law is needed to curb deforestation. Along with proactive support for #Indigenous land rights, #agroecology and decolonisation. Act now and help the climate, be #vegan #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife

Strict #legal protections are needed to protect #forests, #indigenous peoples and #endangered animals 🐒🦎🦬 from #extinction. Reject the #ecocide! When you shop be #vegan #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🚫 #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-8U5

Governments and law-makers must urgently act to protect #rainforests 🌳🌲 #animals 🐘🐯🦍 and #indigenous peoples from disappearing finds new #report. Help them survive and #BoycottGold4Yanomami #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-8U5

Written by Mary Gagen, Professor of Physical Geography, Swansea University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

The world is falling behind on commitments to protect and restore forests, according to the recent Forest Declaration Assessment. There is no serious pathway to fixing climate change while forest losses continue at current rates, because global climate targets, sustainable development goals and forest commitments depend on each other.

Around 1.6 billion people live close enough to forests to depend upon them for their livelihoods, and forests suck down about a third of our CO₂ emissions from fossil fuels.

The UN estimates that forests directly generate US$250 billion (£206 billion) in economic activity a year. Their broader, indirect, value might be as much as US$150 trillion (£12 trillion) per year – double the value of global stocks – largely due to their ability to store carbon. Despite this, subsidies still provide incentives for people to convert forests into agriculture.

Big Business: Failing Promises

There have been multiple global commitments to forests, with hundreds of governments and businesses signing up to pledges named after cities they were signed in: Bonn in 2011, New York in 2014, Glasgow in 2021. But these pledges have not been realised, and deforestation reduction targets are slipping each year.

Global forest loss in 2022 was 6.6 million hectares, an area about the size of Ireland. That’s 21% more than the amount that would keep us on track to meet the target of zero deforestation by 2030, agreed in Glasgow. The loss of tropical rainforest is even more pronounced: 33% over the target needed. Deforestation in 2022 marked a 4% step back on 2021 progress.

Why we are failing to protect forests

There isn’t one simple explanation for why forests are still disappearing. Factors include a lack of Indigenous Peoples rights to their territories, forest-harming financial and trade systems, and the physical effects of climate change and fire.

The lack of consistent and secure land tenure rights for Indigenous Peoples and local communities threatens forests and the people who depend upon them. Across the tropics, where forests are under their stewardship, the evidence is clear: deforestation and degradation are lower.

Subsidies that can lead to deforestation are worth between US$381 billion (£314 billion) and US$1 trillion (£825 billion) per year. These could include handing out public land to settlers, building roads or pipes to enable industrial-scale farming, keeping taxes on agricultural products artificially low, or subsidies on specific crops grown on formerly forested lands.

There are also illegal activities. By one recent estimate, 69% of the tropical forest cleared for agriculture between 2013 and 2019 violated national laws and regulations. The illegal timber trade is estimated to be worth US$150 billion per year globally.

There is simply not enough money going to support forests. Public finance for forests is less than 1% ”) of the amount invested in activities that are environmentally harmful or incentivise deforestation.

Around the globe, forests are also being harmed by climate change and shifting patterns of wildfires. Climate change is causing more fires, including in forests that do not usually burn, and producing hotter fires which cause long-term damage even in fire-adapted forests. The length and severity of droughts is increasing, inducing water stress which kills trees. A combination of climate-related stresses means that trees in the tropics, temperate and boreal forests, are experiencing dying younger and massive “die offs” are happening more often.

If the effects of fire and climate change continue post-Anthropocene forests are likely to be smaller, simpler in species, emptied of wildlife and restricted to steeper ground where agriculture is less favoured.

Computer simulations of the future climate, known as climate models, depict very different outcomes for forests depending on whether we limit global warming or not. If emissions are reigned in and we leave some cultivated land to nature, 350 million hectares of forest could return by 2100. That’s an area roughly the size of India. However, in a future where emissions remain high and land use doesn’t change, the models suggest a loss of a further 500 million hectares of forest by 2100.

How To Get Back On Track

The new Forest Pathways Report I worked on sets out an action plan for getting back on track. It asks global leaders and businesses to:

• Accelerate the recognition of Indigenous Peoples and local communities’ right to own and manage their lands, territories and resources.
• Provide more money, both public and private, to support sustainable forest economies.
• Reform the rules of global trade that harm forests, getting deforesting commodities out of global supply chains, and removing barriers to forest-friendly goods.
• Shift towards nature-based and bio economies.

At the next COP28 climate summit in Dubai, there is the promise of bilateral announcements between wealthy donor nations and forested nations in the tropics, as part of the Forest and Climate Leaders’ Partnership signed in Glasgow, two years ago. These packages could support a move towards sustainable forest management and deforestation-free supply chains around the world.

This would be a valuable success, but leadership is desperately needed on other issues such as environmentally harmful subsidies or illegal logging, the financial scale of which both dwarf the funding provided to protect forests.

Written by Mary Gagen, Professor of Physical Geography, Swansea University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

ENDS

Read more about deforestation and ecocide in the palm oil industry

Beautiful and Doomed: Saving Bangladesh’s Langurs From Extinction

Critically endangered Phayre’s langurs and endangered capped langurs of Bangladesh, are interbreeding raising concerns about their survival, take action!

Sunda Flying Lemur Galeopterus variegatus

Sunda flying lemurs AKA Malayan colugos rely on ancient forests to survive, despite being skilful gliders, palm oil is a major threat, boycott palm oil!

Oreo Maker Linked to Ongoing Deforestation and Human Rights Abuses

Mondelēz International who make Oreos keep sourcing palm oil from suppliers linked to violence and deforestation. Their RSPO certification is pure greenwash!

Meat-Stinking Giant Flower Has A Delectable Aroma For Pollinators

Titan Arum AKA ‘Corpse Flowers’ is famous for its repulsive meat smell. Palm oil agriculture is a massive threat to these rare stinky plants. Take action!

Western Parotia Parotia sefilata

Western Parotias AKA Arfak Parotias are stunning bird-of-paradise of West Papua known for their mesmerising dances. Palm oil and mining ecocide are threats

Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.

Take Action in Five Ways

1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Instagram
• WordPress
• YouTube
• Mail
• Mastodon

Enter your email address

Sign Up

2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.

Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez

Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings

Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao

Health Physician Dr Evan Allen

The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert

How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy

3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.

https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20

https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20

https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20

4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.

5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here

Beautiful and Doomed: Saving Bangladesh’s Langurs From Extinction

A recent study has found hybridisation (interbreeding) between critically endangered Phayre’s #langurs and endangered capped langurs in #Bangladesh, raises serious concerns about their genetic health and future survival as distinct species. Hybridisation is a serious sign of ecological disruption, and researchers point to human-related threats such as #palmoil and #timber #deforestation, habitat fragmentation, and #hunting as key drivers for them interbreeding. These pressures not only push the species to hybridise but also threaten their long-term existence in the wild, highlighting the urgent need for conservation efforts to address habitat destruction and protect these seriously endangered primates. 🌿 Help them when you shop, go #vegan and #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife

Beautiful Capped Langurs and Phayre’s #Langurs are interbreeding, risking both #species’ survival. Pressures of #palmoil #deforestation and #hunting are pushing the #monkeys to the edge in #Bangladesh #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife 🌴🚫 @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-9bY

Hybridisation/interbreeding of two beautiful #langur 🐵🐒species in #Bangladesh puts both #animals in serious peril finds #research study 😭. #Palmoil #deforestation is a major threat. Fight back and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife 🌴🛢️⛔ @palmoildetect.bsky.social https://wp.me/pcFhgU-9bY

This article was originally published in Mongabay and was written by Mohammad Al-Masum Molla, read the original article. Republished under Creative Commons attribution licence. Research by Ahmed, T., Hasan, S., Nath, S., Biswas, S. … Roos, C. (2024). Mixed-Species Groups and Genetically Confirmed Hybridization Between Sympatric Phayre’s Langur (Trachypithecus phayrei) and Capped Langur (T. pileatus) in Northeast Bangladesh. International Journal of Primatology. doi:10.1007/s10764-024-00459-x

• Bangladesh is home to less than 500 Phayre’s langurs and 600 capped langurs in the rainforests in the country’s northeast.
• A recent study has unveiled a trend of hybridisation between Phayre’s langurs and capped langurs in Bangladesh, which are listed as critically endangered and endangered, respectively, by IUCN.
• Hybridisation is a vital indicator of ecological change, and researchers are raising serious concerns about the genetic health of the two species and their future existence in the wild.
• The study holds human activities such as deforestation, habitat fragmentation and hunting as some of the causes responsible for increasing the risk of hybridisation cases.

A recent study revealed a troubling trend among the wild monkey population in Bangladesh’s northeastern forests. The study, conducted by the German Primate Centre, unveiled a concerning tendency of hybridisation between Phayre’s langurs (Trachypithecus phayrei) and capped langurs (Trachypithecus pileatus), listed as critically endangered and endangered, respectively, within Bangladesh by IUCN.

This hybridisation of the endangered primates, which researchers of the study say is caused by habitat loss due to deforestation and other human interferences, could push them to extinction in a few generations.

“Bangladesh’s langur populations are small and isolated, limiting gene flow. This hybridisation in restricted populations heightens their extinction risk. Furthermore, our laws primarily protect pure langurs, leaving hybrids unprotected. If hybrids persist into future generations, we’ll face tough decisions about their role in our ecosystem,” Tanvir Ahmed, the study’s lead researcher, told Mongabay.

Monirul H. Khan, a professor at Jahangirnagar University’s Zoology Department, agreed with Tanvir and said that the significance of interbreeding is that these langurs don’t survive for a long time.

“They are usually born infertile. So the population of langur will gradually decrease,” he said.

The study, published in the International Journal of Primatology, recently found that out of 98 langur groups observed, eight comprised both Phayre’s and capped langurs.

“We analysed genetic samples of the species in the lab and confirmed one case of hybridisation. This langur had a capped langur mother and a Phayre’s langur father. Another female with a hybrid appearance showed signs of motherhood, indicating that at least female hybrids are fertile and give birth to young,” Tanvir said.

“The genetic characteristics of a distinct species tend to become most threatened when their hybrid females can reproduce. Fertile hybrid females threaten to bring the two species closer together as the offsprings begin to mix characteristics. That is exactly what could be happening to them,” he said.

The research shows that the ‘spectacled’ Phayre’s langurs and the capped langurs, with their distinctive shock of black fur on their heads, are under threat of losing their distinct genetic makeup to hybridisation.

Researchers conducted the study over five years, between 2018 and 2023, in six forests in northeastern Bangladesh — Lawachara National Park, Satchari National Park, Rema-Kalenga Wildlife Sanctuary, Rajkandi Reserve Forest, Patharia Hill Reserve Forest and Atora Hill Reserve Forest.

The study involved field surveys for 92 days between March 2018 and April 2019 and from July to December 2022, employing three trained local eco-guides to monitor the mixed-species groups until October 2023.

Why hybridisation is a concern

The study shows that, although it’s relatively rare, hybridisation among primates is an escalating concern worldwide, often driven by habitat loss and fragmentation. It serves as a stark reminder of the significant impacts of human activity on biodiversity. The situation in Bangladesh gradually becoming more common emphasizes the urgent need for strong conservation efforts.

The study mentions how hybridisation is a vital indicator of ecological change, raising serious concerns about species’ genetic health. Tanvir added that this study is groundbreaking, as it documents the first hybridisation incidents among these langurs in Bangladesh and their entire distribution range.

Hybrids being fertile could lead to the extinction of the parent species. “Additionally, mixing species can enable the spread of diseases between previously unconnected populations, posing risks to both wildlife and human health, since these animals are often hunted and traded,” said Sabit Hasan, a researcher of the study.

The study blamed human activities such as palm oil deforestation, habitat fragmentation, hunting and trapping of primates as some of the causes that can increase the risk of such hybridisation.

“The existence of fertile hybrids is particularly alarming because it suggests that gene flow between these two endangered species could irreversibly affect their future genetic composition,” Tanvir said.

Primates of Bangladesh

Ten of the 121 mammal species found in Bangladesh are primates. According to the hybridisation study, Bangladesh is home to less than 500 Phayre’s langurs and 600 capped langurs.

The Phayre’s langur has a brown to grey-brown back, white fur on its belly and face, and a “spectacled” appearance due to wide white rings around its eyes. Its face and extremities are black, and it has long hair on its head that points backward. Additionally, its tail is longer than its body and has a tuft of dark hair at the tip.

The capped langur is known for its distinctive crown of long, erect hairs on its head. It has a black face, grey to blackish-grey fur on top, and brownish-yellow or orange fur below, with the distal half of its tail being blackish.

The study suggested the government prioritize habitat preservation and create corridors to connect isolated primate populations, facilitating natural langur dispersal.

“If we don’t take action now, we risk losing not just two monkey species but also a vital part of Bangladesh’s biodiversity,” Tanvir said.

Banner image: The genetically confirmed hybrid (right) with its capped langur mother at Satchari National Park. Image by Harish Debbarma.

This article was originally published in Mongabay and was written by Mohammad Al-Masum Molla, read the original article. Republished under Creative Commons attribution licence. Research by Ahmed, T., Hasan, S., Nath, S., Biswas, S. … Roos, C. (2024). Mixed-Species Groups and Genetically Confirmed Hybridization Between Sympatric Phayre’s Langur (Trachypithecus phayrei) and Capped Langur (T. pileatus) in Northeast Bangladesh. International Journal of Primatology. doi:10.1007/s10764-024-00459-x

ENDS

Learn about other animals endangered by palm oil and other agriculture

Sunda Flying Lemur Galeopterus variegatus

Western Parotia Parotia sefilata

Capped Langur Trachypithecus pileatus

Mountain Tapir Tapirus pinchaque

Saola Pseudoryx nghetinhensis

Tucuxi Sotalia fluviatilis

Learn about “sustainable” palm oil greenwashing

Read more about RSPO greenwashing

A 2019 World Health Organisation (WHO) report into the palm oil industry and RSPO finds extensive greenwashing of palm oil deforestation and the murder of endangered animals (i.e. biodiversity loss)

Take Action in Five Ways

1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Instagram
• WordPress
• YouTube
• Mail
• Mastodon

Enter your email address

Sign Up

2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.

Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez

Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings

Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao

Health Physician Dr Evan Allen

The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert

How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy

3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.

https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20

https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20

https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20

4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.

5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here

Jaguars and Pumas Eat More Monkeys in Damaged Forests

Study finds that in fragmented forests of #Mexico, #bigcats like #jaguars and pumas find it difficult to find traditional prey animals like #ungulates. Instead they focus on harder to catch prey like tree-dwelling #monkeys, forced out of the trees by #palmoil, #soy and #meat #deforestation. This spells bad news for many #primate species of Central and South America and highlights why urgent forest protection is needed. Help species survive and be #Vegan #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife to protect forests and forest animals.

In #Mexico, big #cats like #jaguars 🐆 and #pumas can’t find ungulate prey due to #palmoil #mining #meat #deforestation. They’ve switched to a diet of #monkeys, putting them in peril. Help them, be #vegan #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-92D

#Primates like #howler 🐒and spider #monkeys in #Mexico 🇲🇽 are declining due to overhunting by big cats: #pumas and #jaguars. They’re forced by #deforestation 🌳 into smaller areas. Help them survive! #Boycottpalmoil 🌴⛔️ #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-92D

Written by Aralisa Shedden, Postdoctoral Researcher in Conservation, Bournemouth University. Originally published as ‘Big cats eat more monkeys in a damaged tropical forest – and this could threaten their survival’. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Monkeys aren’t normally that popular with Jaguars and Puma but wide-spread logging robs primates of hiding places, drastically reducing their numbers.

Monkeys are not usually a popular menu item for big cats. Primates are, after all, hard to catch: living in the canopies of large trees and rarely coming down to the ground. Jaguar and puma have varied diets and will normally hunt the species that are most common where they live, such as deer, peccary (a type of wild pig) and armadillo.

https://youtu.be/jg-7kOpHtys

But jaguar and puma living in southern Mexican forests with a high human footprint (where wood and other resources are regularly harvested and there are large clearings for farms or expanding settlements) seem to be changing their feeding preferences to include more monkeys, according to new research.

Other studies have already found that when there is less of their usual prey around, big cats turn to alternatives. The changes in jaguar and puma diets that my colleagues and I recorded may indicate that the populations of these normal prey are shrinking, or that something in the environment has changed to make catching and eating primates easier.

This change in the diet of large cats could make the disappearance of primate populations in tropical forests like this one in southern Mexico more likely. This would, in turn, make the disappearance of large cats themselves more likely due to a lack of food, threatening the stability of an entire ecosystem.

https://youtu.be/m5VDG5lAEtM

On the trail of big cats

When forests are cut down or altered by loggers and hunters, primates are particularly affected, as many species depend on tall trees for food, shelter and to chart paths through the forest. Globally, more than 60% of primate species are threatened with extinction.

https://youtu.be/X-brmypUfJY

These changes to forests have also put large predators at risk. Understanding what is happening in these areas can inform more effective conservation measures, which may prevent species from disappearing.

The Uxpanapa valley in southeastern Mexico is one of the last relicts of tall evergreen forest in the country, and is classified as one of the most biodiverse areas in both Mexico and the world. It is home to jaguar, puma and many other species, including two endangered primates: howler and spider monkeys.

I led a research team that studied the distribution of primates in the Uxpanapa Valley for the first time. We recorded the number of primates and where they were found, as well as the type of forest they preferred.

Another team looked for large cats with the help of a dog which could detect their faeces, otherwise known as scat. Scat was collected to obtain DNA and determine the species that left it, whether it had any parasites, and what its diet was like. The team found out what prey these large cats were eating by using microscopes to study the hairs left in each scat. Special identification guides can link each kind of animal to its hair – each has a particular colour, pattern and shape.

Large carnivores maintain biodiversity and the functioning of an ecosystem by controlling populations of certain species – for example, herbivores that might otherwise harm trees or prevent forests regrowing. The presence of such predators can indicate an ecosystem’s health. Knowing what top predators are eating can tell us even more about how an ecosystem is functioning.

What we found

When we combined the data and information we collected, we began to understand that something out of the ordinary was happening.

Primates were the most frequent prey found in jaguar and puma scats, making up nearly 35% of the remains. Primate remains were also more likely to be found in scats collected from areas with less forest. Spider monkey remains, for example, were more likely to be found in scats collected in areas with more villages, and in forest that was regrowing after being disturbed.

A possible explanation is that where there are more villages, it is likely that there is more hunting and tree-cutting taking place. Where there is more hunting, the prey that jaguar and puma usually prefer might not be as plentiful. And regrowing forests do not offer primates the same protection as tall, untouched forests. These two factors may explain why large cats are eating spider monkeys more often here.

Jaguar and puma will usually eat the prey that is more abundant. If their preferred prey is scarce, they will hunt the species they encounter most. Similar to what we observed with spider monkeys, in areas where there was less tall forest, howler monkey remains were more likely than non-primate prey to be found in the scats, possibly as big cats found it easier to reach primates.

Less tree cover and overhunting of other prey (combined with general habitat loss) could explain the high rates of primate predation we discovered. Nevertheless, we need to continue monitoring these sites to fully understand these changes in large cat diets.

Our results highlight the importance of maintaining tall forest cover to ensure primates and other forest-dependent species can survive. They also raise the urgent need for conservation, before the negative effects of human activities on both primate and large cat populations become irreversible, and the ecosystems they live in are lost.

Written by Aralisa Shedden, Postdoctoral Researcher in Conservation, Bournemouth University. Originally published as ‘Big cats eat more monkeys in a damaged tropical forest – and this could threaten their survival’. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

ENDS

Jaguar Panthera onca

Jaguars, currently deemed Near Threatened, face a substantial habitat reduction of up to 25% in just over two decades. This decline stems from rampant deforestation for palm oil, soy, and meat, as well…

Keep reading

Brown Howler Monkey Alouatta guariba

You will hear a Brown Howler #Monkey before you sere one. Heard from several kilometres away these monkeys have a haunting howl that penetrates and rustles the forest canopy. They live in groups…

Keep reading

Colombian Red Howler Monkey Alouatta seniculus

Red howlers are the largest of the howler monkey species. They have dense and vividly coloured fur that ranges from brown to dark red, with gold or bright orange undersides – the colour…

Keep reading

Brown Spider Monkey Ateles hybridus

The enigmatic blue-billed curassow (Crax alberti – local name “Paujil”), endemic to the tropical humid forests of northern Colombia, is the cracid species most threatened with extinction in the wild from #deforestation

Keep reading

Yucatán Black Howler Monkey Alouatta pigra

Their range is being rapidly destroyed for palm oil and sugar cane deforestation and mining. They are also facing human persecution and hunting pressures. Yucatán Black Howler Monkeys have been classified as endangered…

Keep reading

Learn about other animals endangered by palm oil and other agriculture

Mountain Tapir Tapirus pinchaque

Keep reading

Saola Pseudoryx nghetinhensis

Keep reading

Tucuxi Sotalia fluviatilis

Keep reading

Frill-Necked Lizard Chlamydosaurus kingii

Keep reading

Grey Crowned Crane Balearica regulorum

Keep reading

Ecuadorean Viscacha Lagidium ahuacaense

Keep reading

Learn about “sustainable” palm oil greenwashing

Read more about RSPO greenwashing

A 2019 World Health Organisation (WHO) report into the palm oil industry and RSPO finds extensive greenwashing of palm oil deforestation and the murder of endangered animals (i.e. biodiversity loss)

Take Action in Five Ways

1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Instagram
• WordPress
• YouTube
• Mail
• Mastodon

Enter your email address

Sign Up

2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.

Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez

Read more

Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings

Read more

Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao

Read more

Health Physician Dr Evan Allen

Read more

The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert

Read more

How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy

Read more

3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.

https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20

https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20

https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20

4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.

5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here

#animalBehaviour #AnimalBiodiversityNews #animalCommunication #animalCruelty #animalExtinction #animalIntelligence #animalRights #bigcats #biodiversity #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #cats #deforestation #howler #Jaguars #meat #Mexico #mining #monkeys #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #Primate #primates #pumas #soy #ungulates #vegan

Songbirds Socialise Mid-Flight During Migration

Songbirds Socialise Mid-Flight During Migration | A study from the University of Illinois reveals that migrating songbirds communicate with different species during nocturnal flights, potentially sharing vital information about navigation and stopover habitats. This challenges the traditional view of solitary migration, highlighting the importance of social interactions in avian journeys. Help them to survive and #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife

🕊️ #News: Fascinating #research finds #song #birds 🦉🦅🐦 communicate mid-flight with other species, possibly sharing navigation tips. This challenges the view of solitary migration. #Bird #communication #Animals #Migration #Avian Protect them and #BoycottPalmOil 🌴💩🔥❌ @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-9OK

University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences. (2025, January 15). Songbirds socialize on the wing during migration. ScienceDaily. Retrieved January 17, 2025, from https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/01/250115125116.htm

https://youtu.be/ZNIUITfUHlc

Migrating Songbirds Engage in Mid-Flight Social Communication

Recent research led by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has uncovered that migrating songbirds engage in vocal interactions with other species during their nocturnal flights. Analysing over 18,300 hours of recorded flight calls, the study suggests that these birds may form social connections and possibly exchange critical information about their migratory routes.

Traditionally, songbird migration has been viewed as a solitary endeavour, guided primarily by innate behaviours. However, this study challenges that notion, proposing that social cues play a significant role even during night-time flights. Lead author Benjamin Van Doren, assistant professor in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, stated, “We can’t be sure what they’re saying, but birds might broadcast calls during flight to signal their species, age, and sex. And we can certainly speculate that these flight calls could relate to navigation or finding suitable stopover habitat.”

The research team utilised acoustic recordings from 26 sites over three years in eastern North America. Employing machine learning tools, they detected the flight calls of 27 species, including 25 well-sampled songbirds. The analysis revealed stronger-than-expected associations between different species’ calls, indicating interspecies communication during flight.

Birds of a Feather Do Indeed Flock Together!

Further examination showed that species with similar wing lengths and call similarities were more likely to associate. Van Doren explains:

“Species with similar wing sizes were more likely to associate, and wing length is directly linked to flight speed. If you imagine two species flying at similar speeds because they have similar wings, then it’s much easier for them to stick together.”

This study opens new avenues for understanding the complexities of avian migration, emphasising the potential for social interactions to influence migratory success. The findings suggest that conservation efforts should consider the social dynamics of migratory birds to better protect these species during their extensive journeys.

For more detailed information, read the full study on ScienceDaily.

University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences. (2025, January 15). Songbirds socialize on the wing during migration. ScienceDaily. Retrieved January 17, 2025, from https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/01/250115125116.htm

ENDS

Learn about other animals endangered by palm oil and other agriculture

Tucuxi Sotalia fluviatilis

Keep reading

Frill-Necked Lizard Chlamydosaurus kingii

Keep reading

Grey Crowned Crane Balearica regulorum

Keep reading

Ecuadorean Viscacha Lagidium ahuacaense

Keep reading

Southern Pudu Pudu puda

Keep reading

Blue-streaked Lory Eos reticulata

Keep reading

Learn about “sustainable” palm oil greenwashing

Read more about RSPO greenwashing

A 2019 World Health Organisation (WHO) report into the palm oil industry and RSPO finds extensive greenwashing of palm oil deforestation and the murder of endangered animals (i.e. biodiversity loss)

Take Action in Five Ways

1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Instagram
• WordPress
• YouTube
• Mail
• Mastodon

Enter your email address

Sign Up

2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.

Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez

Read more

Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings

Read more

Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao

Read more

Health Physician Dr Evan Allen

Read more

The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert

Read more

How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy

Read more

3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.

https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20

https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20

https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20

4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.

5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here

#animal #animalBehaviour #animalBiodiversityNews #animalCommunication #animalCruelty #animalExtinction #animalIntelligence #animalRights #animals #avian #biodiversity #bird #birdOfParadise #birds #birdsong #boycott4wildlife #boycottpalmoil #communication #deforestation #endsongbirdtrade #migration #news #palmOil #palmOilDeforestation #research #song #songbirds

Protecting Peru’s Grasslands Vital for Spectacled Bears

Protecting Peru’s Grasslands Vital for Spectacled Bears | A recent study highlights the importance of conserving Peru’s high-altitude puna grasslands to support the foraging habits of the vulnerable Andean bear AKA Spectacled Bear. The research reveals that these bears prefer young bromeliad plants in specific grassland areas and tend to avoid regions impacted by livestock. Conservation efforts focusing on these habitats could enhance the bears’ survival prospects.

https://youtu.be/Bt72GFvO05c

#News: 🐻🌿 Protecting #Peru’s grasslands vital for #vulnerable Spectacled #bear. #Research finds bears prefer foraging areas with negative impact of #meat #soy and #palmoil agriculture. #BoycottMeat #BoycottPalmOil 🌴🥩⛔️ #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-9OQ

PLOS. (2024, December 18). Conserving high-elevation grasslands in Peru is key to protect Andean bears. ScienceDaily. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/12/241218174935.htm

The Andean bear, also known as the spectacled bear due to distinctive facial markings, is native to the Andes Mountains and currently classified as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). A study published on December 18, 2024, in PLOS ONE emphasizes the critical role of high-elevation puna grasslands in Peru for the species’ foraging activities.

Researchers conducted extensive surveys in and around Manu National Park, focusing on two bromeliad species: Puya leptostachya and Puya membranacea. They observed that Andean bears selectively foraged in approximately 16.7% of available bromeliad patches, showing a preference for young plants located on east-facing, steep slopes at the forest’s edge. Notably, the bears avoided areas with active livestock grazing but were found in regions where livestock had been absent for several decades, indicating a potential for habitat recovery and reoccupation by the bears.

The study suggests that the cessation of livestock grazing can lead to the restoration of puna grasslands, making them more suitable for Andean bears in a relatively short timeframe. This finding underscores the need for targeted conservation strategies that mitigate human disturbances, particularly livestock grazing, to preserve these essential habitats.

Lead author Nicholas Pilfold from the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance stated, “Using the largest collection ever of field data on the feeding behavior of Andean bears in high elevation grasslands, we found that the bears actively selected for specific food resources within the grasslands, indicating that these areas are of nutritional importance to the bears.”

The findings advocate for conservation managers to prioritize the protection and restoration of high-altitude grasslands bordering cloud forests, considering the adverse impacts of livestock on these ecosystems. Implementing such measures is vital for the sustenance and recovery of Andean bear populations in Peru.

PLOS. (2024, December 18). Conserving high-elevation grasslands in Peru is key to protect Andean bears. ScienceDaily. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/12/241218174935.htm

ENDS

Learn about other animals endangered by palm oil and other agriculture

Frill-Necked Lizard Chlamydosaurus kingii

Keep reading

Grey Crowned Crane Balearica regulorum

Keep reading

Ecuadorean Viscacha Lagidium ahuacaense

Keep reading

Southern Pudu Pudu puda

Keep reading

Blue-streaked Lory Eos reticulata

Keep reading

Blonde Capuchin Sapajus flavius

Keep reading

Learn about “sustainable” palm oil greenwashing

Read more about RSPO greenwashing

A 2019 World Health Organisation (WHO) report into the palm oil industry and RSPO finds extensive greenwashing of palm oil deforestation and the murder of endangered animals (i.e. biodiversity loss)

Take Action in Five Ways

1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Instagram
• WordPress
• YouTube
• Mail
• Mastodon

Enter your email address

Sign Up

2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.

Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez

Read more

Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings

Read more

Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao

Read more

Health Physician Dr Evan Allen

Read more

The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert

Read more

How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy

Read more

3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.

https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20

https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20

https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20

4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.

5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here

#Andes #animalBehaviour #AnimalBiodiversityNews #animalCommunication #animalCruelty #animalExtinction #animalIntelligence #animalRights #Bear #biodiversity #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottMeat #BoycottPalmOil #deforestation #meat #News #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #Peru #research #soy #SpectacledBearTremarctosOrnatus #vulnerable

Beef, Palm Oil and Timber: How Wealthy Nations Fuel Deforestation

A major #research study reveals that demand for #beef #palmoil, and #timber in wealthy nations is driving mass deforestation and species extinction in tropical regions. Habitat destruction mainly for agriculture accounts for 90% of all tropical #deforestation. Countries like the US, UK, and Germany are main drivers of rainforest destruction in the #Amazon, #Indonesia, and #Africa, displacing indigenous communities and sending many rare species of animals towards #extinction. Advocates call for a boycott of deforestation-linked products to stop this crisis such as meat and #palmoil. Every time you shop you can resist and fight for them when you #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife and go #Vegan.

https://youtu.be/DAlTg6eVUQk

News: 🌍 #research finds 90% of wild animal #extinction caused by habitat loss mainly for #agriculture: #beef #palmoil, #timber, soy and cocoa. Reduce demand when you shop and fight back! Be #Vegan 🥦🍅 and #BoycottPalmOil 🔥🌴🙊⛔️ #Boycott4Wildlife https://wp.me/pcFhgU-alG

Study Confirms Wealthy Nations’ Demand for Palm Oil, Beef & Timber is Driving Global Deforestation

A major new study has revealed that the world’s richest nations are directly responsible for mass deforestation and biodiversity loss through their consumption of palm oil, beef, timber, soy, and cocoa. The research confirms that these industries are fuelling habitat destruction, species extinction, and displacement of indigenous communities.

The study found that high-income countries account for 13% of global forest loss occurring beyond their own borders. The biggest culprits are:

• Beef 🐄 – The leading cause of global deforestation, responsible for nearly 60% of all forest loss. Rainforests in the Amazon and Central America are burned and cleared to make way for cattle ranching.
• Palm Oil 🌴 – Found in 50% of supermarket products, palm oil plantations have destroyed vast rainforests in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Africa, pushing orangutans, tigers, and hornbills to the brink of extinction.
• Timber and Paper 📄 – Logging for furniture, construction, and paper production is wiping out old-growth forests across South America, Africa, and Southeast Asia. Many so-called “certified” or “sustainable” wood products still drive illegal deforestation.
• Soy 🌱 – Vast areas of the Amazon and Cerrado are destroyed for soy production, most of which is used to feed animals in factory farms.
• Cocoa 🍫 – Chocolate production is linked to widespread deforestation in West Africa, where rainforests are illegally cleared to grow cocoa.

https://youtu.be/GNYH-yWC7ug?si=xv62Njdgrl7KD4oX

Exporting Extinction: The True Cost of Consumption

The study warns that wealthy nations are effectively outsourcing biodiversity destruction. The US, UK, Germany, and China import massive amounts of these deforestation-linked products, making them directly responsible for the loss of critical ecosystems.

• Thousands of species at risk 🦧🐅 – Around 90% of global biodiversity loss is caused by habitat destruction, most of which comes from agriculture.
• Indigenous communities under threat – Land grabs and deforestation for commodities like palm oil and beef displace indigenous peoples, violating their rights and destroying their traditional ways of life.
• Carbon emissions rising – Forest destruction is worsening climate change, eliminating the world’s most important carbon sinks.

Read the full article here in The Guardian

Weston, P. (2025, February 14). Richest nations ‘exporting extinction’ with demand for beef, palm oil and timber. The Guardian. Retrieved February 14, 2025, from https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/feb/14/richest-nations-exporting-extinction-with-demand-for-beef-palm-oil-and-timber-aoe.

ENDS

Learn about other animals endangered by palm oil and other agriculture

Grey Crowned Crane Balearica regulorum

Keep reading

Ecuadorean Viscacha Lagidium ahuacaense

Keep reading

Southern Pudu Pudu puda

Keep reading

Blue-streaked Lory Eos reticulata

Keep reading

Blonde Capuchin Sapajus flavius

Keep reading

Savage’s Glass Frog Centrolene savagei

Keep reading

Learn about “sustainable” palm oil greenwashing

Read more about RSPO greenwashing

A 2019 World Health Organisation (WHO) report into the palm oil industry and RSPO finds extensive greenwashing of palm oil deforestation and the murder of endangered animals (i.e. biodiversity loss)

Take Action in Five Ways

1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Instagram
• WordPress
• YouTube
• Mail
• Mastodon

Enter your email address

Sign Up

2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.

Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez

Read more

Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings

Read more

Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao

Read more

Health Physician Dr Evan Allen

Read more

The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert

Read more

How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy

Read more

3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.

https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20

https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20

https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20

4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.

5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here

#Africa #Agriculture #Amazon #animalBehaviour #AnimalBiodiversityNews #animalCommunication #animalCruelty #animalExtinction #animalIntelligence #animalRights #AnimalCruelty #animalrights #beef #biodiversity #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #deforestation #extinction #Indonesia #palm #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #research #timber #vegan

Climate Change Driving Mass Bird Deaths in the Amazon

A recent #study has revealed that even in the most isolated parts of the #Amazon, bird #populations are collapsing due to #climatechange. Research published in Science Advances found that a 1°C increase in temperature led to a 63% drop in bird survivability, proving that climate change is pushing avian species towards #extinction. Avoiding deforestation-linked products like #palmoil and #meat is crucial in the fight for their survival. As is calling out corporate greenwashing, be #Vegan and #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife

#News: #Study reveals tropical #birds 🦜🪶are dying at alarming rates in the #Amazon 🇧🇷🇪🇨🇨🇴 due to human-induced #ClimateChange, heat stress 🥵 and habitat shifts. Demand corporate accountability #ClimateActionNow, be #vegan and 🌴🪔⛔️ #BoycottPalmOil https://wp.me/pcFhgU-a5w

https://youtu.be/_vw04yaTOJM

Rare Bird Populations Suffer from Heat Stress Leading to Gradual Decline

A team of environmental scientists from the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Michigan Technological University, and the University of Oregon examined decades of bird population data from Brazil’s Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project. They found that bird numbers have steadily declined, with some species even disappearing entirely.

For years, researchers were unsure why birds were vanishing from pristine environments untouched by human development. This study provides clear evidence that climate change is making forests uninhabitable, even for species that have survived in stable, humid ecosystems for millennia.

Heat stress and climate instability

The study found that rising temperatures are disrupting forest ecosystems, creating longer dry seasons, shifting plant and animal populations, and removing essential food sources.

Bird species rely on stable seasonal cycles to build nests, lay eggs, and forage for food for their young. However, as global temperatures rise, their food sources peak too early or disappear entirely. Many chicks are now hatching into a world where food no longer exists, leading to mass starvation and long-term population collapse.

Global implications

While this study focused on the Amazon, its findings have global implications. Bird populations in rainforests worldwide are experiencing similar declines due to climate instability, habitat destruction, and resource depletion.

Read more: Climate change aggravates bird mortality in pristine tropical forests, Science Advances, Jared D. Wolfe et al. (2025). DOI:10.1126/sciadv.adq8086

Wolfe, J. D., et al. (2025). Climate change aggravates bird mortality in pristine tropical forests. Science Advances, 11, eadq8086. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adq8086

ENDS

Learn about other animals endangered by palm oil and other agriculture

Southern Pudu Pudu puda

Keep reading

Blue-streaked Lory Eos reticulata

Keep reading

Blonde Capuchin Sapajus flavius

Keep reading

Savage’s Glass Frog Centrolene savagei

Keep reading

Pesquets Parrot Psittrichas fulgidus

Keep reading

Tanimbar Eclectus Parrot Eclectus riedeli

Keep reading

Learn about “sustainable” palm oil greenwashing

Read more about RSPO greenwashing

A 2019 World Health Organisation (WHO) report into the palm oil industry and RSPO finds extensive greenwashing of palm oil deforestation and the murder of endangered animals (i.e. biodiversity loss)

Take Action in Five Ways

1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Instagram
• WordPress
• YouTube
• Mail
• Mastodon

Enter your email address

Sign Up

2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.

Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez

Read more

Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings

Read more

Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao

Read more

Health Physician Dr Evan Allen

Read more

The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert

Read more

How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy

Read more

3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.

https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20

https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20

https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20

4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.

5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here

#Amazon #animalBehaviour #AnimalBiodiversityNews #animalCommunication #animalCruelty #animalExtinction #animalIntelligence #animalRights #Avian #biodiversity #birds #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #ClimateActionNow #climatechange #deforestation #extinction #meat #News #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #populations #songbird #songbirds #study #vegan

@MorpheusB the #animalextinction crowd would like this.

Monkeys falling from trees and baking barnacles: how heat is driving animals to extinction https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/aug/20/monkeys-falling-trees-baking-barnacles-heat-driving-animals-extinction-climate #heatwaves #ExtremeWeather #AnimalExtinction #wildlife #biodiversity #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis

Leopards’ Roars Are Actually Hidden Big Cat Fingerprints

Leopards’ Roars Are Actually Hidden Big Cat Fingerprints | Researchers from the University of Exeter have discovered that each #leopard possesses a distinctive roar, allowing for individual identification with 93% accuracy. This finding opens new avenues for monitoring and conserving these elusive big cats. Leopards are #vulnerable due to #palmoil #deforestation, #poaching and other threats. Help them every time you shop and #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife

🐆🔊 Exciting #research reveals #leopards have unique roars 🎶🎵 enabling individual identification with 93% accuracy! This breakthrough aids in monitoring and protecting these majestic #bigcats. #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-9PJ

https://youtu.be/lYN0KJM17j0?si=FU7qPIDAah_af1a-

University of Exeter. (2024, December 23). Individual leopards can be identified by their roars. ScienceDaily. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/12/241223135204.htm

A recent study has revealed that leopards can be individually identified by their unique roars, achieving an accuracy rate of 93%. This breakthrough offers a novel method for monitoring these solitary and nocturnal creatures, which are often challenging to study due to their elusive nature.

Conducted across a 450 km² area in Nyerere National Park, Tanzania, researchers employed a combination of camera traps and autonomous recording devices to capture both visual and auditory data. By analysing the temporal patterns of the leopards’ “sawing” roars—a series of low-frequency sounds used for communication—the team successfully distinguished individual animals.

Lead author Jonathan Growcott, a PhD student at the University of Exeter, emphasised the significance of this discovery: “Discovering that leopards have unique roars is an important but fundamentally quite basic finding that shows how little we know about leopards, and large carnivores in general.”

This advancement in bioacoustic monitoring presents a non-invasive approach to studying leopard populations, facilitating more accurate population estimates and aiding in conservation efforts. Given that leopards are classified as ‘vulnerable’ by the IUCN Red List due to habitat loss and human-wildlife conflict, such innovative monitoring techniques are crucial for their preservation.

The study also highlights the potential of integrating multiple technologies to gather comprehensive data on wildlife, enhancing our understanding of ecosystems and informing effective conservation strategies.

Learn more on Science Daily.

University of Exeter. (2024, December 23). Individual leopards can be identified by their roars. ScienceDaily. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/12/241223135204.htm

ENDS

Learn about other animals endangered by palm oil and other agriculture

Malayan Flying Fox Pteropus vampyrus

Keep reading

Mountain Cuscus Phalanger carmelitae

Keep reading

Andean condor Vultur gryphus

Keep reading

Brazilian three-banded armadillo Tolypeutes tricinctus

Keep reading

Sumatran Tiger Panthera tigris sondaica

Keep reading

Bateleur Eagle Terathopius ecaudatus

Keep reading

Learn about “sustainable” palm oil greenwashing

Read more about RSPO greenwashing

A 2019 World Health Organisation (WHO) report into the palm oil industry and RSPO finds extensive greenwashing of palm oil deforestation and the murder of endangered animals (i.e. biodiversity loss)

Take Action in Five Ways

1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Instagram
• WordPress
• YouTube
• Mail
• Mastodon

Enter your email address

Sign Up

2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.

Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez

Read more

Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings

Read more

Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao

Read more

Health Physician Dr Evan Allen

Read more

The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert

Read more

How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy

Read more

3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.

https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20

https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20

https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20

4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.

5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here

#animalBehaviour #AnimalBiodiversityNews #animalCommunication #animalCruelty #animalExtinction #animalIntelligence #animalRights #bigcats #biodiversity #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #deforestation #leopard #leopards #News #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #poaching #research #vulnerable

Support Helps Gorilla and Human Child Resilience

Young gorillas often suffer horrific events in their childhood: the death of their mother or father due to poachers, kidnapping and rough handling for the illegal pet trade. A study of 250 gorillas throughout their lifespans have found they share a lot of needs with human children. And just like their human cousins, they thrive after adverse childhood events when given the right social and economic supports. Help gorillas and 1000’s of other animals to survive when you go plant-based and #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife

Just like human #children 👨‍👩‍👧‍👧, #gorillas 🦍 who suffer #childhood tragedies are able to thrive with #economic and social supports in place. #Research #primatology #primates Help all beings, be #vegan #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-8TQ

As a young #gorilla, #Titus 🦍 suffered more tragedy than most #humans do in their lifetimes. A #study found, just like a human #child, he thrived due to good social and economic supports. Learn more #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-8TQ

Written by Stacy Rosenbaum, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, University of Michigan and Robin Morrison, Postdoctoral Fellow in Animal Behavior, University of Exeter. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Gorilla and Human Childhood Resilience Tied to Economic and Personal Support

In 1974, an infant mountain gorilla was born in Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda. Researchers named him Titus. As is typical for young gorillas in the wild, Titus spent the first years of his life surrounded by his mother, father and siblings, as well as more distant relatives and unrelated gorillas that made up his social group.

In 1978, however, tragedy struck. Poachers killed Titus’ father and brother. In the chaos that followed, his younger sister was killed by another gorilla, and his mother and older sister fled the group. Juvenile Titus, who was at a developmental stage similar to that of an 8- or 9-year-old human, experienced more tragedy in his first four years of life than many animals do in a lifetime.

Titus’ (pictured) father and brother were killed by poachers when he was very young. Then his sister was killed by another gorilla. However, with the right care and supports he managed to overcome this childhood adversity and go on to thrive and live a long life.

In people, a rough start in life is often associated with significant problems later on. Early life adversity can take a wide variety of forms, including malnutrition, war and abuse. People who experience these kinds of traumas, assuming they survive the initial event, are more likely to suffer health problems and social dysfunction in adulthood and to have shorter life spans. Often, these outcomes trace back at least in part to what public health researchers call health risk behaviors – things like smoking, poor eating habits and a sedentary lifestyle.

A lot of bad things can happen to young mountain gorillas in the wild. Image: Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund

But researchers have documented the same kinds of problems in adulthood in nonhuman animals that experienced early life adversity. For example, female baboons who have the hardest childhoods have life spans that are on average only half as long as their peers that have the easiest. Activities like smoking and unhealthy food choices can’t be the whole story, then, since animals don’t engage in typical human health risk behaviors.

Given the connection between adverse events while young and poor health later in life, one might expect that Titus’ unlucky early years would predict a short, unhealthy adulthood for him. However, there are interesting hints that things might work differently in mountain gorillas, which are one of humans’ closest living relatives.

Researchers analyzed decades of observational data to determine how life turned out for young gorillas that had faced adversity. Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund

Decades of gorilla observations

As scientists who have spent many years studying wild gorillas, we have observed a wide variety of early life experiences and an equally wide variety of adult health outcomes in these great apes. Unlike other primates, mountain gorillas don’t appear to suffer any long-term negative effects of losing their mothers at an early age, provided that they reach the age at which they are old enough to have finished nursing.

Losing your mother is only one of many bad things that can happen to a young gorilla, though. We wanted to investigate whether a pattern of resilience was more generalized. If so, could we gather any insight into the fundamental question of how early life experiences can have long-lasting effects?

To do this, we needed exceptionally detailed long-term data on wild gorillas across their lifetimes. This is no mean feat, given gorillas’ long life spans. Primatologists know that males can survive into their late 30s and females into their mid-40s.

The best data in the world to conduct such a study comes from the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, which has been following individual mountain gorillas in Rwanda almost daily for 55 years. We conducted doctoral and postdoctoral research with the Fossey Fund and have collaborated with other scientists there for more than 20 years.

From their database, which stretches back to 1967, we extracted information on more than 250 gorillas tracked from the day they were born to the day they died or left the study area.

We used this data to identify six adverse events that gorillas younger than age 6 can endure: maternal loss, paternal loss, extreme violence, social isolation, social instability and sibling competition. These experiences are the gorilla equivalent of some kinds of adversity that are linked with long-term negative effects in humans and other animals.

Many young gorillas didn’t survive these challenges. This is a strong indication that these experiences were indeed adverse from the perspective of a gorilla.

Ubufatanye experienced the loss of her mother and father and the disintegration of her family group before the age of 5. Now 20, she has become a successful mother, raising three offspring. Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund

We were surprised to discover, however, that most of the repercussions of these hardships were confined to early life: animals that survived past the age of 6 did not have the shorter life spans commonly associated with early life adversity in other species.

In fact, gorillas that experienced three or more forms of adversity actually had better survival outcomes, with a 70% reduction in the risk of death across their adult years. Part of this hardiness, especially for males, may be due to a phenomenon called viability selection: Only the strongest animals survive early adversity, and thus they are also the animals with the longest life spans.

While viability selection may be part of the story, the patterns in our data strongly suggest that as a species, mountain gorillas are also remarkably resilient to early adversity.

Where do gorillas get their resilience?

Although our findings corroborate previous research on maternal loss in gorillas, they contrast with other studies on early adversity in humans and other long-lived mammals. Our study indicates that the negative later-life consequences of early adversity are not universal.

The absence of this connection in one of our closest relatives suggests there might be protective mechanisms that help build resiliency to early-life knocks. Gorillas may provide valuable clues to understand how early life experiences have such far-reaching effects and how people can potentially overcome them.

Young gorillas live with their parents as part of larger social groups. Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund

While there is still much left to explore, we suspect that gorillas’ food-rich habitat and cohesive social groups could underpin their resiliency. When young gorillas lose their mothers, other social group members fill in the companionship hole she leaves behind. Something similar may happen for other types of early adversity as well. A supportive social network combined with plentiful food may help a young gorilla push through challenges.

This possibility underscores the importance of ensuring that human children who experience early adversity are supported in multiple ways: socially, but also economically, especially since early adversity is particularly prevalent among children living in poverty – itself a form of adversity.

Titus, pictured here as an adult, survived more adversity before age 4 than many animals confront in a lifetime. Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund

And what became of Titus? Despite his difficult start in life, Titus went on to lead his group for two decades, siring at least 13 offspring and surviving to his 35th birthday, making him one of the most successful gorillas the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund has ever studied.

Though Titus’ story is only a single anecdote, it turns out that his resilience is not so unusual for a member of his species.

Written by Stacy Rosenbaum, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, University of Michigan and Robin Morrison, Postdoctoral Fellow in Animal Behavior, University of Exeter. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

ENDS

Learn about other animals endangered by palm oil and other agriculture

Brazilian three-banded armadillo Tolypeutes tricinctus

Keep reading

Sumatran Tiger Panthera tigris sondaica

Keep reading

Bateleur Eagle Terathopius ecaudatus

Keep reading

Borneo Forest Dragon Gonocephalus bornensis

Keep reading

Orange-breasted Falcon Falco deiroleucus

Keep reading

Sunda Clouded Leopard Neofelis diardi 

Keep reading

Learn about “sustainable” palm oil greenwashing

Read more about RSPO greenwashing

A 2019 World Health Organisation (WHO) report into the palm oil industry and RSPO finds extensive greenwashing of palm oil deforestation and the murder of endangered animals (i.e. biodiversity loss)

Take Action in Five Ways

1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Instagram
• WordPress
• YouTube
• Mail
• Mastodon

Enter your email address

Sign Up

2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.

Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez

Read more

Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings

Read more

Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao

Read more

Health Physician Dr Evan Allen

Read more

The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert

Read more

How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy

Read more

3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.

https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20

https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20

https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20

4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.

5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here

#animalBehaviour #AnimalBiodiversityNews #animalCommunication #animalCruelty #animalExtinction #animalIntelligence #animalRights #biodiversity #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #child #childhood #children #deforestation #economic #gorilla #Gorillas #humans #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #primates #primatology #research #study #Titus #vegan

Beyond Cute: All Animals Can Become Social Media Sensations

In the age of cutesy #mammal sensations like pygmy hippo #MooDeng the chubby, pink-cheeked pygmy #hippo baby – many people believe that social media shares are correlated to cuteness. They are wrong, according to a recent study, more obscure and unusual animals like #insects, #amphibians, #reptiles and #insects can enjoy a generous portion of the social media limelight. Help them every time you shop and #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife

https://youtu.be/hFfsonkN1Vc

Cutesy #animals like #MooDeng🦛 the chubby-cheeked pygmy #hippo lead many to believe #socialmedia shares are correlated to #cuteness – they’re wrong. All animals can enjoy the spotlight Protect them when u #Boycott4Wildlife #BoycottPalmOil @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-974

Cutesy or not: animals can be showcased on social media with the right storytelling and still gain big audience engagement

Remember the popularity contests of high school? Often our athletic, genetically gifted classmates got the most attention: the school captain, the footy team captain, the prom queen. But popularity contests don’t just exist in school. And in the world of conservation, it can be a matter of survival for the “winners” and “losers”.

If we asked you to list every animal species you can think of, chances are that list would be full of mammals and birds, with very few reptiles, fish, amphibians and invertebrates. So why do we focus so much on some species and so little on others?

Our recent study challenges assumptions that people simply find mammals and birds much more engaging than other species. When these neglected species were posted to Instagram by wildlife organisations and researchers, there were no great differences in the likes they attracted.

This has implications for which species we focus on to enlist public support for conservation. A more complete picture of the wildlife around us would help reduce glaring imbalances in conservation outcomes.

Our cognitive bias towards the cutest and fluffiest

For years, we’ve assumed humans engage more with the “cute and fluffy” species – often known as “charismatic megafauna” – and these are the animals that are shown to us on TV, film and advertising. There is evidence to support this preference. People will often choose to donate to mammals and birds over other species, and mammals and birds are mentioned more on social media.

However, mammals and birds make up less than 10% of all animals on Earth. With the media we’re consuming, we’re just not getting an accurate picture of the world of wildlife that surrounds us.
Where this gets worrying is in the fight for species survival. Our planet is in an extinction crisis, with species becoming extinct at extraordinary rates.

However, our focus on mammals and birds means cute and fluffy animals receive more research attention and funding. Conservation outcomes for these species are better than for reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates. Tellingly, 94% of all threatened species on the IUCN Red List are reptiles, fish, amphibians and invertebrates.

Do people really prefer charismatic megafauna?

Our study suggests this issue may be more complex than first thought. Many Australian conservation organisations use social media platforms, such as Instagram, to share their work and connect communities with wildlife. But in the busy, ever-updating world of Instagram feeds, which images are the most effective at grabbing someone’s attention?

We set out to examine which Australian wildlife species were most often posted to Instagram and which had the highest levels of engagement. Based on the belief that people will engage more with charismatic megafauna, we expected mammals and birds to be shown more frequently and to elicit higher engagement than the “creepy crawlies” such as amphibians and insects.

We analysed 670 wildlife images posted to Instagram by wildlife organisations and research group accounts in 2020 and 2021. For each image, we noted the species posted in the image. As a measure of engagement, we recorded the number of “likes” the image received in proportion to each organisation’s follower count.

What did the study find?

Our results were surprising and provide hope for the future of underrepresented wildlife.

Although the majority of wildlife images posted to Instagram by these conservation organisations were of mammals and birds (73.7% to be precise), our analysis of image engagement uncovered a surprising and promising trend. Mammals were, indeed, more engaging than other species, but only by a tiny amount. We found birds, reptiles, invertebrates, amphibians and fish were all equally as engaging for Instagram users.

Are we ready to sympathise with weird bugs?

Perhaps it is time to give our creepy crawlies more of the media limelight. The more we see a wide diversity of animals, the more likely we are to support their conservation.

The Theory of Repeated Messaging suggests when we are repeatedly exposed to something, we are more likely to become familiar with, engage with and support it. Research has shown when we put effort into promoting underrepresented species, we can improve their chances of receiving a public donation by 26%.

Our findings suggest the media and conservation organisations can promote endangered species across all walks of life – from lizards to bugs and fish to frogs – without compromising viewer engagement. This will increase our knowledge of the amazing diversity of animals that we share this planet with. In turn, this will lead to underrepresented species receiving more of the conservation support they need to survive.

Zoos Victoria is already leading the way. The endangered native golden-rayed blue butterfly features in the new Totes for Wildlife campaign to conserve its natural habitat.

Perhaps we tend to prefer mammals and birds because we see them more, and not just because they look a certain way. After all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Written by Meghan Shaw, PhD Student in Conservation Social Science, Deakin University; Bill Borrie, Associate Professor, Environmental Management and Sustainability, Deakin University; Emily McLeod, Senior Social Science Research Manager, Zoos Victoria, and PhD Candidate, The University of Queensland, and Kelly K Miller, Associate Professor of Environment and Society, Deakin University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

ENDS

Learn about other animals endangered by palm oil and other agriculture

Gursky’s Spectral Tarsier Tarsius spectrumgurskyae

Sunda Flying Lemur Galeopterus variegatus

Western Parotia Parotia sefilata

Capped Langur Trachypithecus pileatus

Mountain Tapir Tapirus pinchaque

Saola Pseudoryx nghetinhensis

Learn about “sustainable” palm oil greenwashing

Read more about RSPO greenwashing

A 2019 World Health Organisation (WHO) report into the palm oil industry and RSPO finds extensive greenwashing of palm oil deforestation and the murder of endangered animals (i.e. biodiversity loss)

Take Action in Five Ways

1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Instagram
• WordPress
• YouTube
• Mail
• Mastodon

Enter your email address

Sign Up

2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.

Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez

Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings

Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao

Health Physician Dr Evan Allen

The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert

How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy

3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.

https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20

https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20

https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20

4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.

5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here

Dung Beetles Are Rainforests’ Diligent Regrowth Soldiers

Unsung heroes of the Amazon jungle, the dung beetle may eat and nest in poop, but their role in nature is anything but humble. These hard-shelled scarabs live on every continent of the world except Antarctica, recycling feces and suppressing parasites that could otherwise harm people and animals. Dung beetles also spread both seeds and nutrients into the soil, helping to maintain a healthy ecosystem. Help them every time you shop and #Boycottpalmoil #BoycottGold and #Boycott4Wildlife

Written by Filipe França, Researcher, Tropical Ecology, Federal University of Pará and Joice Ferreira, Researcher in Ecology, Federal University of Pará. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Dung #beetles 🪲🦗🐛 are unsung heroes of ecosystems. If both drought and fire kill off dung beetles, then the Amazon #rainforest is in serious trouble. Help them to survive by going #vegan and #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🪔☠️🤮⛔️ #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-4IZ

Conversely, dung beetles suffer when an ecological system is struggling. In tropical forests, for example, stress caused by environmental disturbances causes dung beetles to gain body fat and work less. Species diversity declines.

That’s why, as Amazon researchers, we use the marvelous, hard-working dung beetle to measure the ecological health of the world’s largest rainforest. Since 2010, we have collected and studied over 14,000 dung beetles from 98 different species in the vast and still wild interior of Brazil’s Santarém region, a remote corner of the Amazon forest – part of a long-term project with the Sustainable Amazon Network.

Most recently, we studied dung beetles to assess the Amazon’s recovery from the intense drought and forest fires of 2015 and 2016, extreme climatic events brought on by the most severe El Niño on record.

Stressed beetles take less crap

Some forests in our 10,586-square-mile research area were burned in the El Niño fires, which scorched 4,000 square miles of the Amazon. These climate-triggered fires are not to be confused with last year’s Amazon fire crisis, which was deforestation-related. Other Amazonian forests in our study experienced extreme drought but not fire.

We knew going into this project that Amazonian fauna are particularly sensitive to fire – unlike animals in Australia, which have a long history of fire adaptation. But our study, which was published in the scientific journal Biotropica in February 2020, reveals that both forest fires and drought are far more damaging than previously thought.

Dung beetles are captured in traps baited with – what else? – human and pig poop. There we count and physically examine them. To assess their activity level, we trick dung beetles into dispersing seeds by building a small arena filled with a mix of dung and artificial seeds on the forest floor.

Comparing our catches before and after the El Niño forest fires, we learned that almost 70% of dung beetles had disappeared. We believe that’s because most dung beetles nest in shallow soil depths of between zero to 6 inches, so fire heat is likely to kill them.

The El Niño droughts likewise decimated the Amazonian dung beetle populations. Their populations dropped by about 60% in forests affected only by drought, not fire.

Together, extreme drought and forest fires in the Amazon had severely diminished the beetles’ ability to remove dung and spread seeds, which declined by 67% and 22%, respectively, in comparison to data recorded in 2010 – before El Niño. This reduced haul is probably the result of population loss.

Both the reduction in the number of dung beetles captured and their diminished waste disposal functions persisted even two years after El Niño. While dung beetle populations recover quickly in fire-dependent ecosystems, insect recovery from fire disturbance in tropical forests can take many years.

Tropical beetles: If both drought and fire kill off dung beetles, the Amazon forests are in serious trouble

In damaged forests, most regrowth depends on seed dispersal by animals. Dung beetles disperse the seeds that promote revegetation and spread nutrients in the soil, helping seedlings survive.

They aren’t the only animals that play this critical ecological function. Tapirs, monkeys, ants, bee beetles and even wasps also spread the seeds that aid vegetation regrowth.

But many studies show that dung beetle responses to environmental stress are similar to those suffered by other seed-spreading animals necessary to tropical forest health. And climate change is likewise causing the collapse of these insect populations, killing off ants, bees, butterflies and wasps.

Without these important tropical animals, forests damaged by fire and drought will recover much more slowly. That means they may barely begin their regrowth before the next disaster. And with climate change projected to bring the tropics more intense and frequent droughts, along with hotter and dry global temperatures, such disasters will likely come ever more quickly.

From our field sites deep in the Amazon, we are rooting for all the little creeping and crawling creatures that keep the world running – with, admittedly, some particular affection and concern for the humble dung beetle.

Here are some other ways you can help by using your wallet as a weapon and joining the #Boycott4Wildlife

What is greenwashing?

Read more

Why join the #Boycott4Wildlife?

Read more

Greenwashing Tactic #4: Fake Labels

Read more

The Counterpunch: Consumer Solutions To Fight Extinction

Read more

Contribute to my Ko-Fi

Did you enjoy visiting this website?

Palm Oil Detectives is 100% self-funded

Palm Oil Detectives is completely self-funded by its creator. All hosting and website fees and investigations into brands are self-funded by the creator of this online movement. If you like what I am doing, you and would like me to help meet costs, please send Palm Oil Detectives a thanks on Ko-Fi.

#AmazonRainforest #animalBehaviour #AnimalBiodiversityNews #animalExtinction #beetles #biodiversity #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottGold #BoycottPalmOil #deforestation #dungBeetle #extinction #fire #ForgottenAnimals #insects #PalmOil #pollination #pollinator #rainforest #ReasonsToBeHopeful #SeedDispersers #vegan

Dung Beetles Are Rainforests’ Diligent Regrowth Soldiers

Unsung heroes of the Amazon jungle, the dung beetle may eat and nest in poop, but their role in nature is anything but humble. These hard-shelled scarabs live on every continent of the world except Antarctica, recycling feces and suppressing parasites that could otherwise harm people and animals. Dung beetles also spread both seeds and nutrients into the soil, helping to maintain a healthy ecosystem. Help them every time you shop and #Boycottpalmoil #BoycottGold and #Boycott4Wildlife

Written by Filipe França, Researcher, Tropical Ecology, Federal University of Pará and Joice Ferreira, Researcher in Ecology, Federal University of Pará. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Dung #beetles 🪲🦗🐛 are unsung heroes of ecosystems. If both drought and fire kill off dung beetles, then the Amazon #rainforest is in serious trouble. Help them to survive by going #vegan and #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🪔☠️🤮⛔️ #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://wp.me/pcFhgU-4IZ

Conversely, dung beetles suffer when an ecological system is struggling. In tropical forests, for example, stress caused by environmental disturbances causes dung beetles to gain body fat and work less. Species diversity declines.

That’s why, as Amazon researchers, we use the marvelous, hard-working dung beetle to measure the ecological health of the world’s largest rainforest. Since 2010, we have collected and studied over 14,000 dung beetles from 98 different species in the vast and still wild interior of Brazil’s Santarém region, a remote corner of the Amazon forest – part of a long-term project with the Sustainable Amazon Network.

Most recently, we studied dung beetles to assess the Amazon’s recovery from the intense drought and forest fires of 2015 and 2016, extreme climatic events brought on by the most severe El Niño on record.

Stressed beetles take less crap

Some forests in our 10,586-square-mile research area were burned in the El Niño fires, which scorched 4,000 square miles of the Amazon. These climate-triggered fires are not to be confused with last year’s Amazon fire crisis, which was deforestation-related. Other Amazonian forests in our study experienced extreme drought but not fire.

We knew going into this project that Amazonian fauna are particularly sensitive to fire – unlike animals in Australia, which have a long history of fire adaptation. But our study, which was published in the scientific journal Biotropica in February 2020, reveals that both forest fires and drought are far more damaging than previously thought.

Dung beetles are captured in traps baited with – what else? – human and pig poop. There we count and physically examine them. To assess their activity level, we trick dung beetles into dispersing seeds by building a small arena filled with a mix of dung and artificial seeds on the forest floor.

Comparing our catches before and after the El Niño forest fires, we learned that almost 70% of dung beetles had disappeared. We believe that’s because most dung beetles nest in shallow soil depths of between zero to 6 inches, so fire heat is likely to kill them.

The El Niño droughts likewise decimated the Amazonian dung beetle populations. Their populations dropped by about 60% in forests affected only by drought, not fire.

Together, extreme drought and forest fires in the Amazon had severely diminished the beetles’ ability to remove dung and spread seeds, which declined by 67% and 22%, respectively, in comparison to data recorded in 2010 – before El Niño. This reduced haul is probably the result of population loss.

Both the reduction in the number of dung beetles captured and their diminished waste disposal functions persisted even two years after El Niño. While dung beetle populations recover quickly in fire-dependent ecosystems, insect recovery from fire disturbance in tropical forests can take many years.

Tropical beetles: If both drought and fire kill off dung beetles, the Amazon forests are in serious trouble

In damaged forests, most regrowth depends on seed dispersal by animals. Dung beetles disperse the seeds that promote revegetation and spread nutrients in the soil, helping seedlings survive.

They aren’t the only animals that play this critical ecological function. Tapirs, monkeys, ants, bee beetles and even wasps also spread the seeds that aid vegetation regrowth.

But many studies show that dung beetle responses to environmental stress are similar to those suffered by other seed-spreading animals necessary to tropical forest health. And climate change is likewise causing the collapse of these insect populations, killing off ants, bees, butterflies and wasps.

Without these important tropical animals, forests damaged by fire and drought will recover much more slowly. That means they may barely begin their regrowth before the next disaster. And with climate change projected to bring the tropics more intense and frequent droughts, along with hotter and dry global temperatures, such disasters will likely come ever more quickly.

From our field sites deep in the Amazon, we are rooting for all the little creeping and crawling creatures that keep the world running – with, admittedly, some particular affection and concern for the humble dung beetle.

Here are some other ways you can help by using your wallet as a weapon and joining the #Boycott4Wildlife

What is greenwashing?

Read more

Why join the #Boycott4Wildlife?

Read more

Greenwashing Tactic #4: Fake Labels

Read more

The Counterpunch: Consumer Solutions To Fight Extinction

Read more

Contribute to my Ko-Fi

Did you enjoy visiting this website?

Palm Oil Detectives is 100% self-funded

Palm Oil Detectives is completely self-funded by its creator. All hosting and website fees and investigations into brands are self-funded by the creator of this online movement. If you like what I am doing, you and would like me to help meet costs, please send Palm Oil Detectives a thanks on Ko-Fi.

#AmazonRainforest #animalBehaviour #AnimalBiodiversityNews #animalExtinction #beetles #biodiversity #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottGold #BoycottPalmOil #deforestation #dungBeetle #extinction #fire #ForgottenAnimals #insects #PalmOil #pollination #pollinator #rainforest #ReasonsToBeHopeful #SeedDispersers #vegan

‘We rarely see them now’: just how vulnerable are Vanuatu’s dugongs? https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/jul/04/vanuatu-dugong-sea-cow-population-south-pacific-vulnerable #AnimalExtinction #Vanuatu #ClimateCrisis #ClimateChange #biodiversiy #Oceans

‘Shameful loss’: wolves declared extinct in Andalucía https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/aug/01/wolves-declared-extinct-in-andalucia-spain-aoe #Spain #AnimalExtinction #wolves #Biodiversity #wildlife #IllegalHunting #BanTrophyHunting

India’s Palm Oil Goals Raise Extinction Fears

India aspires to bring one million hectares of land under oil palm cultivation by 2025, scaling up from its current cultivation area of around 0.37 million hectares. This move has not been welcomed by local politicians and experts who warn that it could lead to large-scale deforestation, disturbances to sensitive ecosystems and trigger land conflicts in tribal areas.

The huge growth of #palmoil in #Assam and #Nicobar Islands in #India 🇮🇳 poses a threat to rare beautiful animals 🐒🌿🐢🦎🐦🕊️ #ecosystems and #indigenous peoples. Fight back when you shop! #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2023/02/26/indias-oil-palm-goals-raise-fears-of-deforestation-and-extinction/

Originally published by Phys.org. Read the original article on September 10, 2021. Republished under the fair use policy.

India’s newly announced plan to move from being the world’s biggest importer of palm oil to that of major producer of the crop may be at the cost of large-scale deforestation of ecologically sensitive areas.

An official note posted recently said the union cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had approved the launch of a National Mission on Palm Oil that would have a “special focus on the north-east region and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.”

“Due to the heavy dependence on imports for edible oils, it is important to make efforts for increasing the domestic production of edible oils in which increasing area and productivity of oil palm plays an important part,” the note said.

According to the Solvent Extractors Association of India, the country spends an average of US$10 billion on importing palm oil—the cheapest source of fat that goes into the processed food and cosmetic industries.

India aspires to bring one million hectares of land under oil palm cultivation by 2025, scaling up from its current cultivation area of around 0.37 million hectares. The Indian Institute of Oil Palm Research has assessed that the country has 2.8 million hectares of land that could potentially be used for oil palm cultivation. The government has allocated US$1.5 billion to help achieve this target. By 2025–26, India’s crude oil production is expected to reach 1.12 million tons, rising to 2.8 million tons by 2029–30.

“The decision of the government is nothing new but a continuation of the previous government policies to reduce dependency from import of edible oil,” says Siraj Hussain, India’s former secretary of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare.

Hussain explains to SciDev.Net that when he was the secretary, he too pushed oil palm plantation as it “yields about five times more oil than other edible oils per hectare of cultivated area.”

However, India’s drive to expand palm oil production has not been welcomed by local politicians and experts who warn that it could lead to large-scale deforestation, disturbances to sensitive ecosystems and trigger land conflicts in tribal areas.

Agatha Sangma, a member of parliament from Meghalaya state in the north-east, tells SciDev.Net that she has written to the prime minister opposing the move on the grounds that it would ruin the country’s environment, citing the experiences of Indonesia and Malaysia where around 3.5 million hectares of forest have been converted into oil palm plantations.

“Our north-east region has rich biodiversity and it will get ruined soon if the palm oil mission is implemented,” she says adding that the plan could also lead to land conflict with ethnic peoples.

Agatha Sangma

According to the World Wildlife Fund, a leading conservation organization, oil palm plantations are spreading across Asia, Africa and Latin America at the “expense of tropical forests—which form critical habitats for many endangered species and a lifeline for some human communities.”

“Besides causing large scale deforestation of rainforest of the region, it would invite conflict between private companies and ethnic tribes as private companies are going to indirectly control their land,” says T R Shankar Raman of Nature Conservation Foundation, a South India based non-profit organization which has carried out a detailed study on the negative effects of oil palm plantations in Mizoram, a north-eastern state.

“Besides causing large scale deforestation of rainforest of the region, it would invite conflict between private companies and ethnic tribes as private companies are going to indirectly control their land.”

~ T R SHANKAR RAMAN OF NATURE CONSERVATION FOUNDATION

Caption: Forests are still being bulldozed to make way for agricultural land for palm oil and beef production. Richard Whitcombe/Shutterstock

A review paper published in Advances in Agronomy says that the conversion of forest land into oil palm plantations reduces water infiltration and dry season water flows, and increase soil erosion, sedimentation and surface runoff. Another study shows that bird populations declined when natural forests were replaced by oil palm plantations in Mizoram.

“It is time to promote traditional oil seed varieties like coconut rather than industrial-scale production of oil with exotic species,” says Kartini Samon, an Indonesia-based activist who works with GRAIN, an international non-profit that supports small-scale farmers and community-based biodiversity conservation.

In April, Sri Lanka banned imports of palm oil and ordered the phased uprooting of palm oil plantations in favor of crops that are regarded as more environment-friendly such as coconut, tea and rubber.

Provided by SciDev.Net

ENDS

Originally published by Phys.org. Read the original article on September 10, 2021. Republished under the fair use policy.

An Indian documentary about the dangers of consuming palm oil

https://youtu.be/eScpF9ruI80

Read more: India’s rare and beautiful wildlife is under threat by palm oil deforestation

Concerns Mount Over Palm Oil Expansion in Nagaland

Concerns Mount Over Palm Oil Expansion in Nagaland | The Nagaland Climate Change Adaptation Forum (NCCAF) has raised grave concerns about the environmental and social impacts of expanding palm oil plantations in the Indian region of Nagaland.…

Read more

Sloth Bear Melursus ursinus

The sloth bear (Melursus ursinus), with their distinctive “Y” or “V” shaped chest patch and shaggy fur, are unique bears native to the Indian subcontinent. Once exploited as ‘dancing bears’ by the Kalandar tribe, this phase of…

Read more

Nicobar Long-Tailed Macaque Macaca fascicularis umbrosa

Discover the intriguing world of the Nicobar long-tailed macaque, a true survivor of India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands. These intelligent, adaptable, and highly social creatures navigate a variety of habitats with remarkable resilience. With their broad, chubby…

Read more

Phayre’s Leaf Monkey Trachypithecus phayrei

Phayre’s leaf monkey, also known as Phayre’s langur, are remarkable Old World monkeys distinguished by large, white-rimmed eyes that lend them a “spectacled” appearance. Known locally as ‘Chasma bandor’ they live mostly in the lush forests of…

Read more

India’s Palm Oil Plans Wreak Havoc On The Ground

#India’s aggressive push for #palmoil plantations in #Nagaland, #Assam and #Mizoram is wreaking havoc on both the environment and local communities. The government plans to ramp up oil palm cultivation in the northeast, locking away land that…

Read more

Irrawaddy Dolphin Orcaella brevirostris

Intelligent and social Irrawaddy dolphins, also known as the Mahakam River dolphins or Ayeyarwady river #dolphins have endearing faces. Only 90 to 300 are estimated to be left living in the wild. Their rounded and expressive looking…

Read more

Sambar deer Rusa unicolor

The majestic Sambar deer, cloaked in hues ranging from light brown to dark gray, are distinguished by their rugged antlers and uniquely long tails. Adorned with a coat of coarse hair and marked by a distinctive, blood-red…

Read more

Lion-tailed Macaque Macaca silenus

Lion-tailed macaques hold the title of one of the smallest macaque species in the world and sport a majestic lion-esque mane of hair. They exclusively call the Western Ghats in India their home. This area has been…

Read more

Jerdon’s Courser Rhinoptilus bitorquatus

The Jerdon’s Courser is a rare and captivating nocturnal #songbird belonging to the pratincole and courser family Glareolidae. These #birds are endemic to #India in the Eastern Ghats region of Andhra Pradesh. Currently they are only known…

Read more

Green Dragontail Lamproptera meges

Green Dragontails could arguably be called the most exquisite and beautiful butterflies alive.

They flutter through sunlit patches of leaves near to streams and rivers in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, the Philippines, and northeastern India.

…

Read more

Nicobar pigeon Caloenas nicobarica

The Nicobar pigeon is the largest pigeon in the world and the closest living relative to the extinct dodo bird. They are famous for their gorgeous iridescent feathers. When threatened they make a pig-like grunt and are…

Read more

Choose Indigenous Trees Over Palm Oil In India

In an effort to combat India’s edible oil shortage, the Indian government has heavily promoted the cultivation of exotic palm oil trees. This is a decision mired in controversy due to the associated severe ecological repercussions witnessed…

Read more

Load more posts

Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.

Read more stories about human rights and land-grabbing in the palm oil industry and other extractive industries

Pictured: Mushrooms on the forest floor by Wooter Penning for Pexels

Greasing the Wheels of Colonialism: Palm Oil Industry in West Papua 

Read more

Palm Oil Workers Expose Industry Practices Resembling Colonialism

Read more

Papua’s ‘Empty Lands’: A Dangerous Myth Displacing Indigenous Peoples

Read more

Key To Reversing Amazonia’s Mineral Demand: Indigenous Empowerment

Read more

Research: Palm Oil Plantations Threaten Indigenous Waterways

Read more

New Research: Indigenous Communities Reduce Amazon Deforestation by 83%”

Read more

Palm Oil Is Ruining Kalangala Uganda — Locals Paying the Price

Read more

Violence for Palm Oil Against Peasant Communities in Honduras Meets Resistance

Read more

The Great Malaysian Timber and Palm Oil Swindle

Read more

Load more posts

Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.

Here are some other ways you can help by using your wallet as a weapon and joining the #Boycott4Wildlife

What is greenwashing?

Read more

Why join the #Boycott4Wildlife?

Read more

Greenwashing Tactic #4: Fake Labels

Read more

The Counterpunch: Consumer Solutions To Fight Extinction

Read more

Contribute to my Ko-Fi

Did you enjoy visiting this website?

Palm Oil Detectives is 100% self-funded

Palm Oil Detectives is completely self-funded by its creator. All hosting and website fees and investigations into brands are self-funded by the creator of this online movement. If you like what I am doing, you and would like me to help meet costs, please send Palm Oil Detectives a thanks on Ko-Fi.

#AnimalBiodiversityNews #animalExtinction #Assam #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #deforestation #ecosystems #extinction #ForgottenAnimals #humanRights #India #indigenous #indigenousRights #landRights #landgrabbing #Nicobar #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil

Thousands more species at risk of extinction than currently recorded, suggests new study

New research suggests the #extinction crisis may be even worse than we thought. More than half of species that have so far evaded any official conservation assessment are threatened with extinction. Some species that are not yet classified and are “data deficient” make up around 17% of the nearly 150,000 species currently assessed. according to predictions by researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Help them to survive! #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife

This article is written by Lilly P. Harvey, PhD Researcher, Environmental Science, Nottingham Trent University It is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

How should researchers allocate funds to protect endangered species of #plants and #animals? The #Boycott4Wildlife thinks that ALL LIFE needs protecting 💌🫏🦤🐍🐮🌿 not just a few lucky species. #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2022/11/16/thousands-more-species-at-risk-of-extinction-than-currently-recorded-suggests-new-study/

The IUCN Red List has confirmed tigers are officially endangered, for instance, or that giant panda populations have recovered enough to move from endangered to merely vulnerable.

However, while species like pandas and tigers are well studied, researchers don’t know enough about some species to properly assess their conservation status. These “data deficient” species make up around 17% of the nearly 150,000 species currently assessed.

When analysing conservation data it is common for researchers to remove or underestimate assumptions of threat for these species, in order to control for unknown variations or misjudgements. Now, these researchers in Norway have tried to shed light on the black hole of unknown extinction risk by designing a machine learning model that predicts the threat of extinction for these data deficient species.

Machine learning for extinction assessment

When thinking of artificial intelligence and machine learning it is easy to imagine robots, computer-simulations and facial recognition. In reality, at least in ecological science, machine learning is simply an analytical tool used to run thousands of calculations to best represent the real-world data we have.

In this case, the Norwegian researchers simplified the Red List extinction categories into a “binary classifier” model to predict a probability of whether data deficient species are likely “threatened” or “not threatened” by extinction. The model algorithm has “learned” from mathematical patterns found in biological and bioclimatic data of those species with an already assigned conservation category on the Red List.

56% of data deficient species are predicted to be threatened

They found more than half (56%) of the data deficient species are predicted to be threatened, which is double the 28% of total species currently evaluated as threatened in Red List. This reinforces the concern that data deficient species are not only under-researched, but are at risk of being lost forever.

On land, these likely threatened terrestrial species are found across all continents, but live in small geographically restricted areas. This finding supports previous research with similar conclusions that species with small range sizes are particularly vulnerable to anthropogenic habitat degradation, such as deforestation or urbanisation.

At risk amphibians

Amphibians are the most at-risk group, with 85% of those data deficient species predicted as threatened (compared to 41% of those currently evaluated on the Red List). Amphibians are already a poster-child for the extinction crisis and are a key indicator for ecological health, as they depend on both land and water. We don’t know enough about what causes such catastrophic extinction of amphibians, and I am part of a science initiative trying to address the problem.

It’s a slightly different, but still tragic, story at sea. Data deficient marine species that are predicted to be facing extinction are concentrated along coasts, particularly in south-eastern Asia, the eastern Atlantic coastline and in the Mediterranean. When data deficient species are combined with fully-assessed species on the Red List, there is a 20% increase in the probability of extinction along the eastern coastlines of tropical Latin America.

What this means for global conservation

Though it is likely that the need for conservation has actually been underestimated worldwide these probability predictions are highly variable across different areas and groups of species, so don’t be fooled into overgeneralising these findings. But these broad results do highlight why it is so important to further investigate data deficient species.

Contrary to the IUCN: the #Boycott4Wildlife sees all life as precious and worth saving

Here are some other ways you can help by using your wallet as a weapon and joining the #Boycott4Wildlife

What is greenwashing?

Read more

Why join the #Boycott4Wildlife?

Read more

Greenwashing Tactic #4: Fake Labels

Read more

The Counterpunch: Consumer Solutions To Fight Extinction

Read more

Contribute to my Ko-Fi

Did you enjoy visiting this website?

Palm Oil Detectives is 100% self-funded

Palm Oil Detectives is completely self-funded by its creator. All hosting and website fees and investigations into brands are self-funded by the creator of this online movement. If you like what I am doing, you and would like me to help meet costs, please send Palm Oil Detectives a thanks on Ko-Fi.

#AnimalBiodiversityNews #animalExtinction #animals #biodiversity #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #extinction #palmOilDeforestation #plants

Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao

Dr Sophie Chao: In Her Own Words

Anthropologist, Scholar, Writer, Indigenous & Multispecies Rights Advocate

• LinkedIn
• Link
• Link
• Link
• Link

Bio: Dr Sophie Chao

Dr Sophie Chao is an environmental anthropologist and environmental humanities scholar interested in the intersections of capitalism, ecology, Indigeneity, health, and justice in the Pacific.

Her theoretical thinking is inspired by interdisciplinary currents including Science and Technology Studies, political ecology, and Indigenous, Postcolonial, and Critical Race Studies.

Dr Chao is currently a Discovery Early Career Research Award (DECRA) Fellow and Lecturer in Anthropology at the University of Sydney. Prior to her academic career, she worked for the international Indigenous rights organisation Forest Peoples Programme in the United Kingdom and Indonesia.

She has also undertaken consultancies for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation and the United Nations Working Group on the Issue of Human Rights and Transnational Corporations. She is currently Secretary on the Executive Committee of the Australian Anthropological Society (AAS) and Co-Convenor of the Australian Food, Society, and Culture Network (AFSCN).

In 2022, Dr Chao released her much anticipated book In the Shadow of the Palms: More-Than-Human Becomings in West Papua, which examines the multispecies entanglements of oil palm plantations in West Papua, showing how Indigenous Marind communities understand and navigate the social, political, and environmental demands of palm oil. Her book won the inaugural Duke University Press Scholars of Colour First Book Award.

Dr Chao is keen to forge meaningful collaborations and conversations with Indigenous and decolonial academics, artists, and activists in Australia and beyond, and to move towards a better understanding of morethanhuman worlds. 

Palm Oil Detectives is honoured to interview to Dr Sophie Chao about her research into the impacts of palm oil on the daily lives of Marind people and other sentient beings in West Papua.

https://youtu.be/zy2CV-0bbP4

“I want the world to understand how #deforestation and industrial #palmoil expansion undermine #Indigenous ways of being in #WestPapua” ~ Dr Sophie Chao #PapuanLivesMatter #Together4Forests #Boycott4Wildlife 

Tweet

“#Indigenous #Marind of #WestPapua consider plants and animals NOT as passive objects of exploitation, but as other-than-human relatives. Subjects of #interspecies #justice in their own right” ~ Dr Sophie Chao #Boycott4Wildlife 

Tweet

“I want to see the #palmoil industry/governments try to understand the desires of #Papuan people THEMSELVES instead of pre-conceived notions of what counts as progress” ~ Dr Sophie Chao #PapuanLivesMatter #Together4Forests 

Tweet

“#Governments/ #corporates must accept that some #Indigenous communities may decide to withhold consent to #palmoil projects. Their right to say NO MUST be respected” ~ Dr Sophie Chao   #PapuanLivesMatter #Boycott4Wildlife 

Tweet

​Little previous research had been done into how indigenous peoples themselves experience, interpret, and contest oil palm developments.

In particular, there is not much research done into how indigenous peoples relate to vulnerable, non-human beings such as native plants, animals, and elements, with whom many indigenous peoples entertain intimate and ancestral relations of kinship and care.

“Many people know that oil palm is devastating on tropical ecosystems and biodiversity. Much less is known about the impacts of this proliferating cash crop on the peoples who are being displaced, dispossessed, and disempowered in its wake.”

Pictured: A group of Marind women preparing sago starch that has been freshly rasped from the sago grove. Photo: Dr Sophie Chao

​I wrote this book because I wanted the world to understand how deforestation and industrial oil palm expansion are undermining Indigenous ways of being in West Papua.

​My book seeks to bring to life the worlds of people who live in the teeth of settler-colonial capitalism

[Pictured] Dr Sophie Chao

​Living with Marind transformed how I think about what it means to be “human”

And also what it means to coexist in mutually beneficial ways with other-than-human beings.

​The Marind think of plants and animals as not simply passive objects of human exploitation

Instead, these other-than-human beings are considered to be agents, persons, relatives, and subjects of justice in their own right.

This was a completely different way of thinking to the anthropocentric and individualistic logic of the Westernised parts of the world where I had lived, studied, and worked.

https://youtu.be/U0n1dbxUa1k

​Indigenous Marind enriched my world by inviting me to think beyond nature-culture divides

Humans share the planet with a whole array of different creatures. These creatures matter in the making of more sustainable, collective futures.

​“More-than-human becomings” is in the subtitle of the book because it is an invitation to think beyond the human and also beyond categories. Instead, the reader is invited to think about non-human beings and transforming worlds.

Marind are “More-than-human” because they consider themselves as beings within a lively and diverse ecology of life

This includes native plants and animals like cassowaries, birds of paradise, and sago palms, but also introduced – and sometimes dangerous – organisms like industrial oil palm.

“Becomings” was a way of getting readers to think about life beyond the static notion of “being.” To “become” is a constant transformation, unfolding differently across bodies, places, and time. Becoming, in some ways, never really ends.

​The ‘good life’, according to Marind, stems from the willingness of humans to consider non-human beings as subjects of dignity and justice

This good life is best achieved by immersing oneself in the more-than-human environment. Non-human beings are considered to be participants in the making of shared worlds, and also as subjects of harm and violence.

The “good life” is deeply intergenerational for Marind. They often talked about nurturing the forest, as a way of becoming good ancestors and how they can transmit traditional ecological knowledge to future Marind generations

​Time for Marind is not linear, it is spiralic

What you do now matters in terms of how you will be remembered. What you do now matters in terms of what you will be able to pass on to human and other-than-human beings to come.

There is a wisdom and responsibility that comes with this sense of time that I think is critical to heed in this age of planetary destruction.

Many of my Marind companions talk about conservation and capitalism as being “two sides of the same coin”

This is because they now find themselves excluded from both industrial oil palm plantations and from the conservation areas that are intended to off-set deforestation.

Images: Palm oil plantations and environmental destruction, Getty Images.

Both of these activities entrench a nature-culture divide that is alien to many Marind. Both undervalue the fact that Marind have always coexisted harmoniously with their environments.

These new “conservation zones” are the very same places where Marind fish, forage, and hunt. It is where they go to visit ancestral graveyards and sacred sites. It is where they walk with their families and friends to encounter their kindred sago palms, wild boards, possums, and gaharu trees.

For Marind, conservation and capitalism violate their territorial sovereignty and access to food and resources. Both types of activity are imposed by outside actors through top-down decision-making process that they are not party to.

​Human rights and environmental abuses in West Papua are made invisible in Australia, their closest neighbour, mainly for geopolitical reasons

Racism may have something to do with it – but I think geopolitical interests are a big part of the story

West Papua is incredibly rich in natural resources – from gold, copper, and coal, to timber and oil palm. Economic and political interests tend to trump human and environmental rights, in West Papua and elsewhere.

There are pockets of activism and advocacy in Australia, including by West Papuan diaspora and political exiles – but the movement hasn’t caught the public’s attention in the way other political causes have.

Accessing West Papua is difficult for non-Indonesian individuals and organisations. There is heightened militarisation of the region. This contributes to an ongoing invisibilisation of what is happening at the ground level, among Papuan people and across Papuan ecosystems.

​The demilitarisation of West Papua is absolutely vital if Papuans are to feel that they have a free voice in matters affecting them and their lands – including oil palm developments

Image: Andrew Gal for Getty Images

​Indigenous ways of being and thinking (although radically different from neoliberal capitalist and colonialist logics), should be central to decision-making

I would like to see the palm oil industry, together with the Indonesian government, try to understand the views, aspirations, desires, beliefs, and hopes of Papuan peoples themselves instead of entering with pre-conceived notions of what counts as progress, the good life, and wellbeing.

Government and corporate actors should engaging with Indigenous Papuans through a transparent, iterative, and trust-based process of consent-seeking, before any oil palm projects are designed or implemented.

This consent should be sought freely, well ahead of time, and only when communities have been given access to comprehensive and impartial information on the benefits and risks of oil palm developments.

Pictured: Marind man and child in Merauke by Nanang Sujana

Most importantly, government and corporate actors need to accept that some communities may, following lengthy consultations, still decide to withhold their consent to oil palm projects. This right to say NO to oil palm must imperatively be respected.

​Violence as a multispecies act: Marind describe oil palm as a colonising, killing and occupying plant beings

Oil palm, they often told me, does not want to share time and space with native plants, people, and animals.

It spreads uniformly across vast swaths of land, yet grows alone in monocrop form

This plant’s introduction has been accompanied by intensified military and corporate surveillance, community harassment and intimidation and exploitative labour conditions.

To think about violence in multispecies terms, brings us to consider situations where humans are not the only culprits, and non-humans not the only victims.

Oil palm’s acts of violence invite us to think about non-human beings as drivers and perpetrators of harm – even as they themselves are also subject to human and technological manipulations and exploitation.

Paraquat, a deadly herbicide, trickled down from rusty canisters strapped to the women’s backs, the blue-green venom seeping into their exposed skin.

Banned in many countries because of its toxic effects, no antidote exists for this lethal chemical. I thought of babies never to come. The faces of my friends, huddled in the bed of the truck, were caked in dust and watched the landscape unfurl, weeping.

Infants retched from the stench of mill effluents as we jolted down dirt roads without stopping so as to avoid attracting the attention of military men employed by the companies to guard their plantations. Bunches of oil palm fruit lay strewn along roadsides, piles of moldering blood-red and coal-black, shot through with razor-sharp thorns.

Bulldozers and chainsaws ripped through isolated patches of the remaining vegetation. Silhouetted against the bleary sun, pesticide-spraying helicopters zigzagged back and forth above us, spreading a milky veil of hazy toxins.

~ Dr Sophie Chao, excerpt from the prologue of ‘In the Shadow of the Palms.’

The day that MIFEE came

On August 11th 2010, a delegation of government representatives from Jakarta, led by the then minister of agriculture Ir. H Suswono launched the Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate (MIFEE). A $5 billion USD agribusiness scheme to promote the country’s self-sufficiency in basic foodstuffs and to make Indonesia a net food-exporting nation. Papuans from across the region were invited to the event including Marind community members from the upper Bian river. Paulus Mahuze, Marind clan leader recalls the arrival of MIFEE and how everything changed dramatically afterwards for his people. 

~ Dr Sophie Chao, excerpt from her book ‘In the Shadow of the Palms.’

“It was a hot day. There was dust (abu) everywhere, raised by the government convoys and military trucks. The dust stung our eyes and made our children cry. The government brought oil palm (sawit) company bosses with them from pusat (‘the centre,’ or Jakarta). They gave us instant noodles, pens, bottles of water. They also gave us cigarettes – the expensive kind. They talked a lot about MIFEE. MIFEE this, MIFEE that…but we didn’t understand what MIFEE was. We did not know what palm oil was because oil palm does not live in our forests. Then, the government officials and the oil palm bosses left. They never returned to the village. 
They promised us money and jobs. They said MIFEE would provide us with food. I thought that they would plant yams, vegetables and fruit trees. Instead they planted oil palm. They planted oil palm everywhere they could. They turned the whole forest into oil palm. They cut down all the sago to plant oil palm. This is what happened. Since then, everything is abu-abu (‘grey’ or ‘uncertain’).  

~ Paulus Mahuze, marind clan leader (as told to dr sophie chao in her book: In the shadow of the palms).

​Abu-abu means both “grey” and “uncertain”. For Marind, the future, hope and multispecies relations were all abu-abu and under siege

Pictured: Oil palm plantations in Merauke have contributed to unprecedented levels of deforestation, and water/soil contamination. Photo credit: Dr Sophie Chao.

The concept of abu-abu is one that many of my Marind friends would use to describe the worlds that they inhabit

Abu-abu communicates the sense of ambiguity, opacity, and strangeness that life on the palm oil frontier entails. Greyness manifests in the polluted waters of local rivers, and in the smoke-filled skies following forest burning.

Greyness also manifests in the dull and irritated skin of malnourished infants, poisoned fish, and pesticide-wielding workers

To live in a world of murk and uncertainty is violent and unsettling – but it is also a way of rejecting the possibility of any kind of radical divide between oneself and that murk. That’s why I approach abu-abu not just as a condition of suffering, but also as a stance of refusal.

What would or might come next for Marind and their other-than-human kin was unknown – and often feared.

This sense of greyness, or uncertainty is also metaphorical. For Marind the world is grey in that the future, hope, social and multispecies relations are all under siege.

Pictured: Dead fish, creative commons image, Pxfuel.

At the same time, abu-abu was a form of resistance in the way it refused fixed classifications, categories, or boundaries between things, ideas, and actions

​Whether “sustainable” palm oil can be achieved in practice demands a radical rethinking of the capitalist logic – the logic of endless growth

Careless profit-making, and externally imposed “development” and “progress” rhetorics. And that is a huge task. These kinds of rhetorics are deeply entrenched. Their origins are often unquestioned. Their impacts are often silenced.

​At the end of the day, I think the most important thing to ask ourselves about “sustainability” is – sustainability for whom?

Who gets to have a say over what happens to lands and forests? Who gets to be involved in decision-making processes surrounding oil palm projects? Is there scope to reconsider the scale at which these projects are being developed?

These are questions that have to be crafted and considered together with the Indigenous peoples most directly and indirectly affected by agribusiness expansion.

That, for me, is the beginning of any kind of conversation around sustainability – sustainability for people, plants, animals, and for all the other beings implicated in one way or another in the palm oil nexus.

The rationale for additional Food Estates in Papua and Indonesia is scrutinised in this 2022 report

“The rationale behind Food Estates, that they are an effective way to rapidly increase national food production, does not stand up to scrutiny.

“Over the years, previous attempts to launch Food Estates have failed, with little if any extra food produced. The various iterations of the Merauke Food Estate (MIFEE) are a good example of this.

“For these reasons, it is legitimate to call into question the real motivation behind the plans. With corruption still rampant in Indonesia, there is a significant risk that Food Estates will present new opportunities for profit by those in government and their associates.”

Quote from: Pandemic Power Grabs: Who benefits from Food Estates in West Papua, a report by AwasMIFEE and TAPOL (2022).

Upcoming online events and publications

Event: Eating and Becoming Eaten More-than-human metabolisms on the West Papuan Agribusiness Frontier

https://twitter.com/SSNDeakin/status/1556487944516825089?s=20&t=6XYWl5_WwEiVBCRnuOODag

The Promise of Multispecies Justice

Edited by Dr Sophie Chao, Karin Bolender, Eben Kirksey.

What are the possibilities for multispecies justice? How do social justice struggles intersect with the lives of animals, plants, and other creatures? Leading thinkers in anthropology, geography, philosophy, speculative fiction, poetry, and contemporary art answer these questions from diverse grounded locations.

You can find and follow me on Twitter if you wish @Sophie_MH_Chao

Pictured: Dr Sophie Chao researched the life of the Marind-Anim tribe in Merauke for three years. Her doctoral dissertation on the impact of oil palm plantations on the lives of the tribe won the 2019 best thesis award in Australia in the field of Asian Studies. Photo: ABC News Indonesia

https://twitter.com/Sophie_MH_Chao/status/1554625068906336256?s=20&t=KQOGXlMflLDymRCC19ppTw

https://twitter.com/DukePress/status/1553002952293584898?s=20&t=8y_Ry_oAL7Ef8cdQv5KBQA

https://twitter.com/eben_kirksey/status/1554656376982364160?s=20&t=8y_Ry_oAL7Ef8cdQv5KBQA

Images: Getty Images, Dr Sophie Chao, Nanang Sujana, Craig Jones Wildlife Photography, ABC News Indonesia.

Words: Dr Sophie Chao

Further Reading

‘In West Papua, oil palm expansion undermines the relations of indigenous Marind people to forest plants and animals’ by Dr Sophie Chao for The Conversation.

After 75 years of independence, Indigenous Peoples in Indonesia still struggling for equality by Dr Sophie Chao for The Conversation.

‘Kelapa Sawit Membunuh Sagu’: Sophie Chao Meraih Tesis Terbaik di Australia Setelah Meneliti Suku di Papua by Farid M. Ibrahim for ABC Indonesia.

In the plantations there is hunger and loneliness: The cultural dimensions of food insecurity in Papua (commentary)’ by Dr Sophie Chao for Mongabay.

The sky has no corners: My journey to a new understanding of nature, an essay by Dr Sophie Chao for Five Media.

Read and watch more stories about indigenous justice, land-grabbing and deforestation on Palm Oil Detectives

Mama Malind su Hilang (Our Land is Gone) by filmmaker Nanang Sujana

Image: Marind children in Merauke West Papua by Nanang Sujana

Mama Malind su Hilang (Our Land Has Gone) is a powerful documentary by celebrated and renowned filmmaker and photographer Nanang Sujana. His images and film tells the story of the Malind Anim tribe living in Zanegi village. They were dispossessed from their land which was given over to global palm oil corporations, in its place was Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate (MIFEE).

https://youtu.be/RqYoRh1aApg

“The Forest is the father, land is the mother and rivers are blood

“That’s the spirituality of most Dayak people in Kalimantan. They understand the interdependent nature of everything in nature.”

~ Dr Setia Budhi : Dayak Ethnographer

Image: Rainforest in Sumatra by Craig Jones Wildlife Photography

The people versus Feronia: Fighting palm oil agrocolonialism in the Congo

Read more

Organised Crime: A Top Driver of Global Deforestation

Read more

Promise, Divide, Intimidate and Coerce: 12 tactics used by palm oil companies intent on land-grabbing

Read more

Palm Oil Lobbyists Getting Caught Lying Orangutan Land Trust and Agropalma

Read more

13 Reasons To Boycott Gold for Yanomami

Read more

Treespiracy: Forests are being destroyed against a background of corruption, illegality and apathy

Read more

Palm Oil Detectives is 100% self-funded

Palm Oil Detectives is completely self-funded by its creator. All hosting and website fees and investigations into brands are self-funded by the creator of this online movement. If you like what I am doing, you and would like me to help meet costs, please send Palm Oil Detectives a thanks on Ko-Fi.

#animalExtinction #animalRights #animals #Anthropology #Boycott4wildlife #conservation #corporates #CreativesForCoolCreatures #deforestation #indigenous #IndigenousActivism #indigenousRights #interspecies #justice #landRights #landgrabbing #Malind #Marind #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #PapuaNewGuinea #Papuan #PapuanLivesMatter #rainforestConservation #research #Together4Forests #WestPapua #WestPapua

Climate change is forcing human and non-human beings to become climate refugees

Climate change. Climate denial. Global warming. Call it what you will, the planet is shouting at us. We have ignored the warning signs for decades, but we can no longer ignore what is happening right now.

Decade old muted warnings have now become loud alarms. We need #ClimateActionNow to prevent human and non-human beings becoming #climatechange refugees. By @RStacilee #Boycott4Wildlife https://palmoildetectives.com/2022/07/31/climate-change-is-forcing-human-and-non-human-beings-to-become-climate-refugees/ via @palmoildetect

The definition of refugee or displaced person is someone fleeing a life-threatening crisis. The emerging refugees of this century are fleeing unliveable environmental conditions brought about by climate change and other complex interrelated factors including conflict, disease and famine. Humans and non-human beings alike are becoming climate change refugees. The choices are stark and clear – move and live or stay where you are and perish.

What started out decades ago as muted warnings about the future have now turned into blaring bull horns. Politicians waste time spinning whatever tales fit their agenda but we are out of time if we don’t want to go down with the sinking ship called Earth.

The damage we have done to the planet’s natural resources can never be undone. Equally damaging is the lack of political will to pivot to more sustainable less damaging forms of energy or food production. None of this happened in a bubble nor did it happen overnight.

According to the Internal Displacement Migration Centre (IDMC)’s 2022 GRID report, from the total of 38 million new internal displacements registered in 2021, 23.7 million were triggered by disasters. At the end of 2021, at least 5.9 million people in 84 countries and territories were living in displacement as a result of disasters that happened not only in 2021, but also in previous years (IDMC, 2022).  

As far back as the 1970s and 80s we knew much of the damage we were doing. One can only blow up so many mountains or release so many chemicals into the air and water before our fragile ecosystems become damaged beyond repair.

We humans attribute the term refugee (or displaced person) only to other humans. However, the reality is that any living creature who is forced to leave their native home in order to survive is a climate refugee or a climate displaced being.

For non-human beings, the extreme impacts of climate change mean either dying or quickly adapting and moving on. In many cases, adaptation is not a realistic or feasible choice.

For humans living at sea level on the coast – they too will face having to migrate to higher ground and risk losing their homes to coastal erosion and rising tides. These changes are already occurring in different parts of the world.

What the oceans tell us

We’ve all heard the news stories with dire warnings about a warming ocean, rising tides and ocean acidification. This is having a devastating effect on marine animals, as they rely on shells for protection. Acid in the water is thinning the delicate shells of these crustaceans and putting species survival in jeopardy.

Rising tides have already caused erosion for many coastal dwellers. For many small island nations that means many residents will be forced to emigrate or (if possible) move inland. In wealthy nations, waterfront property that was once highly prized will become harder to sell. As buyers will weigh up the likelihood of the property being flooded.

Bio: Staci-Lee Sherwood

Staci-Lee Sherwood is a courageous writer and passionate animal advocate based in the US who highlights the plight of frequently forgotten species on the brink of extinction, as well as persecuted species, such as wild horses and wolves in her home country. She started Reality Checks with Staci-Lee as a way of providing helpful information to concerned animal lovers about what is really happening to wild animals in America. She does not shy away from naming and shaming individuals, corporations and government agencies responsible for this immense cruelty. In addition to her website Reality Checks with Staci-Lee, she often publishes companion videos on Youtube. She is a part of the #Boycott4Wildlife collective of activists and she is deeply concerned about the threat of palm oil agriculture, deforestation, poaching and other threats on rare rainforest animals.

Her work has been published in Scubaverse, Emagazine, Wild World magazine, Sea Speak Sphere, DiscoverScience 2020, Pagosa Daily Post, Daily Kos, The Good Men Project, Straight from the Horse’s Heart, Spirit Change and her poetry has been published in Fevers of the mind.

Follow Staci-Lee Sherwood

• Twitter
• WordPress
• YouTube

Boycott the brands causing deforestation for palm oil, soy and meat by joining the #Boycott4Wildlife

Chimpanzees once helped African rainforests recover from a major collapse

Most people probably think that the rainforest of central and west Africa, the second largest in the world, has been around for millions of years. However recent research suggests that it is mostly just 2,000 or so years old. The forest reached roughly its modern state following five centuries of regeneration after it was massively fragmented when the dry season suddenly became longer some 2,500 years ago. Help #chimpanzees to survive and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife every time you shop

https://youtu.be/aY3XduaOZ2Q

Interesting fact: Seed dispersers like #chimpanzees in the #Congo kicked off rainforest growth only 2000 years ago 🦍🙉🩷 Now they face #extinction from #mining WE SAY NO to #mining in #DRC! #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2022/07/03/chimpanzees-once-helped-african-rainforests-recover-from-a-major-collapse/

Weird fact: DRC #Congo #rainforests are not ancient. Just 2000 years ago #chimpanzees and other seed dispersers led to rainforest growth. Now – we MUST protect them from #mining and #palmoil! #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🩸🔥💀❌ #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2022/07/03/chimpanzees-once-helped-african-rainforests-recover-from-a-major-collapse/

This process was not linked to humans. The forest recovery was instead made possible by seed dispersers including chimpanzees, which helped spread the slower-growing rainforest tree species. However, dispersers such as chimpanzees are now threatened by deforestation and hunting, often for bushmeat. When combined with climate change, the resilience of the rainforests seems less guaranteed for the future.

I began thinking about natural processes in African forests back in 1993, when I was with my wife-to-be trying to follow wild chimpanzees next to Jane Goodall’s famous group at Gombe, in Tanzania. We were inspired by one of the directors of research at Gombe, Anthony Collins, who suggested that the chimpanzees might be influencing the composition of the forest for their own nutritional needs, by what fruits they pooed out and where. A kind of “proto gardening”.

And then unexpectedly I had to leave the chimpanzees after I succeeded in getting a small grant to study past vegetation change using fossilised pollen, but in the Andes.

A few years later, I found myself giving lectures at Cambridge on human impacts over the past 10,000 years, and suddenly “returning” not only to the tropical rainforests of Africa, but their history. At the time, scientists thought humans were largely responsible for the collapse of the forests from 3,000 years ago.

The first few scientific papers I read used the abundance of pollen from the oil palm tree, preserved in the dated layers of lake muds, as an indicator of human activity. The oil palm is the same species often planted on a massive industrial scale in the tropics today, and since it’s always been an important source of nutrition for people in the region, scientists had assumed it indicated the presence of humans.

Shortly after, I began working in a pollen laboratory in Montpellier in southern France which had a long-term focus on African forest history. There, my simplified view of fossilised oil palm pollen equalling the presence of humans was totally overturned.

Rainforest history records were being amassed that indicated the near-decimation of rainforests some 2,500 years ago in the Congo Basin and across a huge expanse stretching from modern-day Senegal to Rwanda. As there was only very limited archaeological evidence of thinly dispersed human populations, humans could not have been responsible for the almost synchronous destruction on such a huge scale.

Africa hosts the world’s second largest rainforest

So what did cause these rainforests to collapse? It turns out the answer was not humans, but climate change.

In a paper recently published in the journal Global Planetary Change, my colleagues Pierre Giresse, Jean Maley and I use the many vegetation records available across central and west Africa to show that approximately 2,500 years ago, the length of the dry season increased. Rainforests became highly fragmented, and savanna vegetation – grasses, scattered shrubs and trees – moved in.

In the centuries that followed, the forests regenerated spontaneously, including with species such as the oil palm. The oil palm demands a lot of light and so thrives in open areas or in the gaps created in forests when the canopy opens up rather than in the dense centre. Thus it often acts as a “pioneer species” allowing the forest to regrow.

But the oil palm’s large seeds are too heavy to be blown in the wind. They therefore need to be dispersed in the poo of animals such as chimpanzees which are able to swallow the large seeds and for whom the bright orange flesh can be an important part of the diet. And this is how chimps and other seed-dispersers played a crucial role in regenerating Africa’s rainforests.

Seed dispersers under threat

When we began this research, we could not see how relevant it would become during the current pandemic. Now climate change, deforestation and hunting are all heavily impacting those same forests. The bushmeat market is contributing to removing keystone species such as chimpanzees. Without animals to move seeds around – especially the largest and heaviest seeds – the natural composition and regeneration of forests is threatened.

At the turn of the 20th century there were around 1 million chimpanzees, but today only an estimated 172,000-300,000 remain in the wild. Chimps and other seed-dispersing species provide a valuable service and must be better protected in order to protect the forests themselves, and prevent further unforeseen impacts.

For example, the transmission of diseases to humans has also been linked to the bushmeat trade. And transmission is not necessarily one way. In June 1996, three years after my wife and I left the chimps at Mitumba in Gombe National Park, possibly up to half the group died within a few days of a respiratory disease outbreak that was likely transmitted to them by humans.

Perhaps there is a lot more resilience in these tropical forest ecosystems than we can predict. But without chimpanzees and other animals as dispersers, the emptier forests that may eventually grow back would be a sad replacement. Maybe we need to consider the true value of chimp poo, and those that produce it.

Alex Chepstow-Lusty, Associate Researcher, Quaternary Palaeoenvironments Group, University of Cambridge

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Boycott the brands causing deforestation for palm oil, soy and meat by joining the #Boycott4Wildlife

#Africa #AfricanNews #amazingAnimals #animalExtinction #Ape #apes #Boycott4wildlife #Boycott4WildlifeTweet #BoycottPalmOil #ChimpanzeePanTroglodytes #Chimpanzees #Congo #CriticallyEndangeredSpecies #DRC #extinction #intelligence #Mammal #mining #Notomining #palmoil #Primate #primates #primatology #rainforests #SeedDispersers

Insect decline in the Anthropocene: Death by a thousand cuts

Although conservation efforts have historically focused attention on protecting rare, charismatic, and endangered species, the “insect apocalypse” presents a different challenge. In addition to the loss of rare taxa, many reports mention sweeping declines of formerly abundant insects [e.g., Warren et al. (29)], raising concerns about ecosystem function.

#Insects 🪰🦋🪳🪲🐞🐛💌😻🌿 are the incredible engine room of the planet ensuring ecosystems work. They’re under siege by human-caused #climatechange #deforestation #pollution. Report via @PNASnews. #BoycottPalmOil 🌴⛔️ #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2022/06/23/insect-decline-in-the-anthropocene-death-by-a-thousand-cuts/

This report was originally published in PNAS

Insect decline in the Anthropocene: Death by a thousand cuts David L. Wagner, Eliza M. Grames, Matthew L. Forister, May R. Berenbaum, and David Stopak. January 11, 2021
118 (2) e2023989118 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2023989118

Nature is under siege

In the last 10,000 years the human population has grown from 1 million to 7.8 billion. Much of Earth’s arable lands are already in agriculture (1), millions of acres of tropical forest are cleared each year (2, 3), atmospheric CO2 levels are at their highest concentrations in more than 3 million y (4), and climates are erratically and steadily changing from pole to pole, triggering unprecedented droughts, fires, and floods across continents.

Indeed, most biologists agree that the world has entered its sixth mass extinction event, the first since the end of the Cretaceous Period 66 million y ago, when more than 80% of all species, including the nonavian dinosaurs, perished.

Ongoing losses have been clearly demonstrated for better-studied groups of organisms. Terrestrial vertebrate population sizes and ranges have contracted by one-third, and many mammals have experienced range declines of at least 80% over the last century (5).

A 2019 assessment suggests that half of all amphibians are imperiled (2.5% of which have recently gone extinct) (6). Bird numbers across North America have fallen by 2.9 billion since 1970 (7). Prospects for the world’s coral reefs, beyond the middle of this century, could scarcely be more dire (8). A 2020 United Nations report estimated that more than a million species are in danger of extinction over the next few decades (9), but also see the more bridled assessments in refs. 10 and 11.

Loss of Abundant Species

Insects comprise much of the animal biomass linking primary producers and consumers, as well as higher-level consumers in freshwater and terrestrial food webs. Situated at the nexus of many trophic links, many numerically abundant insects provide ecosystem services upon which humans depend: the pollination of fruits, vegetables, and nuts; the biological control of weeds, agricultural pests, disease vectors, and other organisms that compete with humans or threaten their quality of life; and the macrodecomposition of leaves and wood and removal of dung and carrion, which contribute to nutrient cycling, soil formation, and water purification. Clearly, severe insect declines can potentially have global ecological and economic consequences.

Insect diversity

• (A) Pennants (Libellulidae): Dragonflies are among the most familiar and popular insects, renowned for their appetite for mosquitoes.
• (B) Robber flies (Asilidae): These sit-and-wait predators often perch on twigs that allow them to ambush passing prey; accordingly they have enormous eyes.
• (C) Katydids (Tettigoniidae): This individual is one molt away from having wings long enough to fly (that also will be used to produce its mating song).
• (D) Bumble bees (Apidae): Important pollinators in temperate, montane, and subpolar regions especially of heaths (including blueberries and cranberries).
• (E) Wasp moths (Erebidae): Compelling mimics that are hyperdiverse in tropical forests; many are toxic and unpalatable to vertebrates.
• (F) Leafhoppers (Cicadellidae): A diverse family with 20,000 species, some of which are important plant pests; many communicate with each other by vibrating their messages through a shared substrate.
• (G) Cuckoo wasps (Chrysididae): Striking armored wasps that enter nests of other bees—virtually impermeable to stings—to lay their eggs in brood cells of a host bee.
• (H) Tortoise beetles (Chrysomelidae): Mostly tropical plant feeders; this larva is advertising its unpalatability with bold yellow, black, and cream colors.
• (I) Mantises (Mantidae): These voracious sit-and-wait predators have acute eyesight and rapid predatory strikes; prey are instantly impaled and held in place by the sharp foreleg spines.
• (J) Emerald moths (Geometridae): Diverse family of primarily forest insects; their caterpillars include the familiar inchworms.
• (K) Tiger beetles (Cicindelidae): “Tigers” use acute vision and long legs to run down their prey, which are dispatched with their huge jaws.
• (L) Planthoppers (Fulgoridae): Tropical family of splendid insects, whose snouts are curiously varied and, in a few lineages, account for half the body mass. Images credit: Michael Thomas (photographer).

The Stressors

Abundant evidence demonstrates that the principal stressors—land-use change (especially deforestation), climate change, agriculture, introduced species, nitrification, and pollution—underlying insect declines are those also affecting other organisms.

Locally and regionally, insects are challenged by additional stressors, such as insecticides, herbicides, urbanization, and light pollution. In areas of high human activity, where insect declines are most conspicuous, multiple stressors occur simultaneously.

Considerable uncertainty remains about the relative importance of these stressors, their interactions, and the temporal and spatial variations in their intensity. Hallmann et al. (13), in their review of the dramatic losses of flying insects from the Krefeld region, noted that no simple cause had emerged and that “weather, land use, and [changed] habitat characteristics cannot explain this overall decline…”

When asked about his group’s early findings of downward population trends in insects (12), Dirzo summed up his thinking by stating that the falling numbers were likely due to a

“multiplicity of factors, most likely with habitat destruction, deforestation, fragmentation, urbanization, and agricultural conversion being among the leading factors” (40). His assessment seems to capture the essence of the problem: Insects are suffering from “death by a thousand cuts” (Fig. 1).

Taking the domesticated honey bee as an example, its declines in the United States have been linked to (introduced) mites, viral infections, microsporidian parasites, poisoning by neonicotinoid and other pesticides, habitat loss, overuse of artificial foods to maintain hives, and inbreeding; and yet, after 14+ y of research it is still unclear which of these, a combination thereof, or as yet unidentified factors are most detrimental to bee health.

Death by a thousand cuts: Global threats to insect diversity. Stressors from 10 o’clock to 3 o’clock anchor to climate change.

Featured insects:

• Regal fritillary (Speyeria idalia) (Center)
• Rusty patched bumble bee (Bombus affinis) (Center Right)
• Puritan tiger beetle (Cicindela puritana) (Bottom).

Each is an imperiled insect that represents a larger lineage that includes many International Union for Conservation of Nature “red list” species (i.e., globally extinct, endangered, and threatened species). Illustration: Virginia R. Wagner (artist).

Here are some other ways you can help by using your wallet as a weapon and joining the #Boycott4Wildlife

What is greenwashing?

Read more

Why join the #Boycott4Wildlife?

Read more

Greenwashing Tactic #4: Fake Labels

Read more

The Counterpunch: Consumer Solutions To Fight Extinction

Read more

Contribute to my Ko-Fi

Did you enjoy visiting this website?

Palm Oil Detectives is 100% self-funded

Palm Oil Detectives is completely self-funded by its creator. All hosting and website fees and investigations into brands are self-funded by the creator of this online movement. If you like what I am doing, you and would like me to help meet costs, please send Palm Oil Detectives a thanks on Ko-Fi.

Palm Oil Detectives is 100% self-funded

Palm Oil Detectives is completely self-funded by its creator. All hosting and website fees and investigations into brands are self-funded by the creator of this online movement. If you like what I am doing, you and would like me to help meet costs, please send Palm Oil Detectives a thanks on Ko-Fi.

#animalBiodiversityNews #animalExtinction #anthropocene #boycott4wildlife #boycottpalmoil #climate #climateChange #climatechange #deforestation #extinct #extinction #industrialAgriculture #insects #meatAgriculture #meatDeforestation #pesticides #pollination #pollinator #pollution #tippingPoint #tippingpoint

10 reasons why ecolabels & commodity certification will never be a solution for importing tropical deforestation

In 2022, 71 environmental and #humanrights groups from around the world wrote to the EU Commission to warn that certification schemes and ecolabels were not sufficient to prevent human rights abuses and deforestation from entering the European Union. Although fast forward to 2025 and lobbyists have again watered down the #EUDR and #CSDDD, what the future holds is anybody’s guess!

In the UK, industry lobbyists including Ferrero and serial greenwashing outfit Orangutan Land Trust watered down the UK’s commitment to not importing deforestation into the UK. The new trade deal with #Malaysia paves the way for mass importation of palm oil ecocide.

#RSPO and #FSC have been shown for decades to be ineffective and corrupt. They have failed in preventing #corruption, human rights abuses, illegal #landgrabbing, #violence, #deforestation, #ecocide and species #extinction.

So here are 10 reasons why the world should not rely on weak and ineffective certification schemes like MSC, RSPO and FSC to enforce their own zero deforestation mandate. Originally published by GRAIN

https://vimeo.com/724165395

#Ecolabels eg. #RSPO #FSC do not prevent #deforestation. They have failed for decades and instead are only weak #greenwashing tools! Help rainforests, rainforest animals and rainforest peoples. #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🩸🚜🤮🚫 #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2022/06/18/10-reasons-why-ecolabels-commodity-certification-are-not-a-solution-to-stop-the-eu-importing-tropical-deforestation/

@EU_Commission should not trust #ecolabels: e.g. @RSPOtweets @FSC_IC to prevent #deforestation. Decades of failure to stop #humanrights abuses #deforestation shows their deep systemic weaknesses #Boycottpalmoil 🌴☠️🧐🚫 #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2022/06/18/10-reasons-why-ecolabels-commodity-certification-are-not-a-solution-to-stop-the-eu-importing-tropical-deforestation/

Jump to section

• 1. Certification is not designed to achieve the main objective of the regulation – preventing deforestation and other harms
• 2. Certification does not provide the information needed to comply with the EU regulation
• 3. Certification does not provide guarantees for the legality of the product
• 4. Certification does not identify or prevent harms. Audit teams lack time and expertise
• 5. Certification bodies and their auditors are not independent from the company they certify
• 6. Prevention of environmental and social harm cannot be outsourced.
• 7. Certification cannot guarantee Free, Prior and Informed Consent or prevent land grabbing of indigenous land
• 8. Certification provides opportunities for greenwashing and increases vested interests in and corporate power over natural resources.
• 9. Certification promotes the expansion of industrial agriculture and thereby prevents the transition needed to halt deforestation
• 10. Certification directs resources towards a million-dollar certification industry
• Signatories: 71 environmental and human rights NGOs

Considering the shortcomings of certification schemes that the European Commission itself has documented, we are deeply troubled by the current arguments coming from industry players advocating for a stronger role for certification in the regulation, including a way for companies to use these systems as proof of compliance with binding EU rules. Below are ten reasons why this should not happen.

1. Certification is not designed to achieve the main objective of the regulation – preventing deforestation and other harms

Back to top ↑

The EC’s own Commission Staff Working Document Impact Assessment (hereafter EC Impact Assessment) concludes that “the consensus is that [voluntary certification] schemes on their own have not been able to provide the changes needed to prevent deforestation”. This is the position defended by the European Parliament and by most NGOs. Certification schemes do not have a deforestation standard, or the standard does not meet the deforestation definition as proposed in the anti-deforestation regulation. For example, because companies are allowed to clear forests to establish plantations and remediate or compensate with conservation elsewhere.

Numerous studies conducted by WWF, FSCWatch, and Greenpeace and academic studies on Indonesia, have additionally concluded that certification on its own has not helped companies meet their commitments to exclude deforestation from their supply chains.

This led some actors such as WWF to lose faith in certification scheme Roundtable of Responsible Soy (RTRS), not only due to limited uptake, but more specifically, because in biomes where soy is produced, zero-deforestation commitments have so far failed to reduce deforestation. In support of this finding, the Dutch supermarket industry representative (CBL) stated that RTRS “has not appeared to be sufficient to halt [deforestation and conversion] developments and accelerate the transition to a sustainable soy chain”.

“Certification (or verification) schemes may, in some cases, contribute to achieving compliance with the due diligence requirement, however the use of certification does not automatically imply compliance with due diligence obligations. There is abundant literature on certification schemes shortcomings in terms of governance, transparency, clarity of standards, and reliability of monitoring systems”.

2. Certification does not provide the information needed to comply with the EU regulation

Back to top ↑

It does not create transparency of the supply chain or provide information on the geographical origin

As indicated in Article 8 of the Proposal, “because deforestation is linked to land-use change, monitoring requires a precise link between the commodity or product placed on or exported from the EU market and the plot of land where it was grown or raised.” Most certification schemes, however, require only a minimal level of traceability and transparency.

As indicated in the EC’s Study On Certification And Verification Schemes In The Forest Sector, schemes make use of Chain of Custody (CoC) models, but very few apply a traceability system, making it difficult to track the claims of certification, from the forest to the end buyer. One of the most common CoC models used is Mass Balance. This model allows uncertified and untraceable supplies to be physically mixed with certified supplies and end up in EU supply chains. For the most part, certification schemes do not include the systematic ability to verify transactions of volumes, species, and qualities between entities, thus leaving the systems vulnerable to manipulation and fraud.

3. Certification does not provide guarantees for the legality of the product

Back to top ↑

Certification schemes do not have the authority to confirm or enforce compliance with national laws precisely because they are voluntary.

Article 3 in the proposed anti-deforestation regulation states that products
are prohibited on the European market if they are not “produced in accordance with the relevant legislation of the country of production”.

However, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), for example, has explicitly stated its standards are voluntary and “do not extend to enforcing or confirming the legal standing of a company’s use of land (which is a mandate only held by the national authority)”.

4. Certification does not identify or prevent harms. Audit teams lack time and expertise

Back to top ↑

According to the EC “labour, environmental and human rights laws will need to be taken into account when assessing compliance” and identifying harms. However, multiple reports by Friends of the Earth Netherlands, the Environmental Investigation Agency, and ECCHR, reveal that auditing firms responsible for checking compliance are fundamentally failing to identify and mitigate unsustainable practices within certification schemes due to lack of time and lack of expertise. Proper audits on social and human rights issues require extensive consultation to gain full community perspectives on land use, conflicts, or environmental harm. Certification Body (CB) procedures do not allow for this (due to financial resources).

RSPO’s own analysis reads that “the credibility of the RSPO certification scheme has been consistently undermined by documentation of poor practice, and concerns of the extent to which the Assurance System is being implemented”.

Oppressed and stretched NGO groups and communities in the global South spend time and resources on these consultation processes. They face backlash for speaking out during consultations without any guarantee that their input is included in the certification assessment. The EU should not become complicit in exploitation of rightsholders and stakeholders in their monitoring role.

5. Certification bodies and their auditors are not independent from the company they certify

Back to top ↑

The lack of independent audits, considered to be key in ensuring the robustness of certification, was highlighted in the EC Impact Assessment as a key weakness of private certification schemes.

If clients (businesses) hire, supervise, and pay audit firms, they are exposed to a structural risk of conflict of interest, which may lead to a lower level of control.

Previous studies by Friends of the Earth, IUCN, RAN, and Environmental Investigation Agency have shown that, for example in the palm oil industry, when auditors and certification companies are directly hired by an audited company, independence is inhibited and the risk of violations increases.

Also, auditor dependence on company services such as transport and accommodation is problematic. The EC adds to this that these systems are sensitive to fraud given that certified companies may easily mislead their auditors even if the audit is conducted with the greatest care and according to all procedures.

“For example, a company may be selling products containing a volume of “certified” timber material that exceeds the volume of certified raw material that they are buying.”

6. Prevention of environmental and social harm cannot be outsourced, particularly because certification bodies are not liable for harms in the plantations they certify

Back to top ↑

The EU anti-deforestation regulation requires that operators shall exercise due diligence prior to placing relevant commodities on the Union market. Private certification may, in some cases, facilitate compliance with this requirement.

However, as reiterated by German human rights law firm ECCHR the control of compliance is outsourced to private certification bodies, in an unregulated audit and certification market, where CBs are not liable for potential harm.

This leads to inability to distinguish unreliable audits from reliable ones and to competition without rules, setting in motion a ‘race to the bottom’. Certification initiatives have increasingly received complaints for lack of proper due diligence.

For instance, the UK OECD National Contact Point has recently found that Bonsucro breached the Guidelines in relation to due diligence and leverage when reaccepting MPG-T as a member, and the Netherlands NCP handled a complaint about ING’s due diligence policies and practices regarding palm oil.

The OECD guidelines confirm that certification is not a proxy for due diligence, as well as various governments. As echoed by the EC Impact Assessment, “maintaining operators’ responsibility for correctly implementing due diligence obligations when they use certification, aims at ensuring that authorities remain empowered to monitor and sanction incompliant behaviour, as the reliability of those [certification] systems has repeatedly been challenged by evidence on the ground.”

7. Certification cannot guarantee Free, Prior and Informed Consent or prevent land grabbing of indigenous land

Back to top ↑

Indigenous Peoples and local communities have a recognised role in preserving the lands they own and manage, but insecure land tenure is a major driver of deforestation and forest degradation.

Certification bodies commit to investigating whether lands are subject to customary rights of indigenous peoples and whether land transfers have been developed with Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC).

However, assessing whether land user rights and consultation rights were respected needs to consider the historical context, a multi-actor perspective and deep understanding of local conflicts. Considering the apparent low level of knowledge of auditors on human rights and legal issues, assessing prior land use and conflicts is an impossible task for a team of international auditors with limited time.

In Malaysia communities are often not consulted before the issuance of the logging licences. MTCS certified concessions encroach on indigenous territories while the judiciary recognised indigenous customary land rights are a form of property rights protected by the Federal Constitution.

Additionally, certification schemes failed on numerous occasions to address complaints by communities whose land was taken by palm oil companies, including the case of oil palm giant Sime Darby in Indonesia and Socfin in Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone. Certification will not lead to redress or resolution of problems linked to EU operators.

Greenwashing Tactic #4: Fake Labels

Claiming a brand or commodity is green based on unreliable, ineffective endorsements or eco-labels such as the RSPO, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) or FairTrade coffee and cocoa. Greenwashing: Fake Labels and fake certifications Ecolabels are…

Keep reading

8. Certification provides opportunities for greenwashing and increases vested interests in and corporate power over natural resources.

Back to top ↑

Critics have argued that improving the image of forest and ecosystem risk commodities stimulates demand. Certification risks enabling destructive businesses to continue operating as usual and expand their practices, thereby increasing the harm.

“If certification on its own is unable to guarantee that commodity production
is entirely free of deforestation or human rights abuses, there is little to suggest that using certification as a tool for proving compliance with legal requirements could solve the issues in supply chains and fulfil the legislation’s objectives.

In this context, recognising a particular certification scheme as a proof of compliance removes any incentive to improve the scheme or to replace it with a more reliable alternative, effectively contributing to the institutionalisation of greenwashing.”

For example, a number of recent logging industry scandals suggest that the Forest Stewardship Council label has at times served merely to “greenwash” or “launder” trafficking in illegal timber, compelling NGOs to demand systemic change. The difference between certified and non-certified plantations in South East Asia was not significant.

9. Certification promotes the expansion of industrial agriculture and thereby prevents the transition needed to halt deforestation

Back to top ↑

This prevents the transition towards community-based forest management and agro-ecology, with food sovereignty as a leading principle

There are multiple drivers of deforestation, but the evidence is clear in pointing to industrial agricultural expansion as one of the most important. Ultimately, certification initiatives fail to challenge the ideology underpinning the continuation of industrial commodity crop production, and can instead serve to greenwash
further agro-commodity expansion.

Corporations, along with their certifications, continue to seek legitimacy through a ‘feed the world’ narrative.

The “expansion is the only way”argument has long since been discredited by international institutions such as FAO; we produce enough to feed the projected world populations, much of this coming from small-scale peasant producers using a fraction of the resources. Moreover, as smallholders are directly impacted by deforestation and often depend on large operators and are hereby
forced to expand agricultural land and degrading their direct environment, they are therefore an essential part of the solution.

10. Certification directs resources towards a million-dollar certification industry

Back to top ↑

While community and smallholder forest and agriculture management are extremely underfunded.

As explained by the EC Impact Assessment, private certification can be a costly process and resources spent to certify operations and to support the various schemes’ managerial structures could be used for other ends. Considering that smallholders represent a large share of producers in the relevant sectors, they also represent a crucial part of the solution to deforestation.

The EU should stop financing and promoting improvements in a certification system, benefiting industrial forest and plantation companies, that has been proven to fail.

It would be a more effective use of public and private resources to pay smallholders adequately for their products and adhere to their calls if they seek technical or financial support.

To conclude, building on these arguments, we foresee that if decision makers give in to the lobby from industry and certification’s role is reconsidered or promoted in the current proposal, the EU anti-deforestation regulation will not deliver, as it will not only lose its potential to provide information needed to comply with the regulation but lose its ability to curb deforestation and forest degradation all together.

Back to top ↑

Signatories: 71 environmental and human rights NGOs

International

Global Witness
ClientEarth
Environmental Paper Network
International
GRAIN
Global Forest Coalition
Forest Peoples Programme

Indonesia

Friends of the Earth Indonesia; WALHI
Yayasan Pusaka Bentala Rakyat
Yayasan Lembaga Bantuan
Hukum Indonesia
Pantau Gambut
WALHI Papua
Teraju Foundation
Lingkar Hijau
KRuHA
Lepemawil, Mimika, Papua
PADI Indonesia

Cameroon

Synaparcam
Centre pour l’Environnement
et le Développment Chile
Colectivo Vientosur

Democratic Republic of the Congo

RIAO-RDC
Confédération Paysanne du
Congo-Principal Regroupement Paysan
Gabon
Muyissi Environnement

China

Snow Alliance
Blue Dalian
Green Longjiang
Scholar Tree Alliance
Wuhu Ecology Centre

Malaysia

SAVE Rivers
KERUAN
Sahabat Alam Malaysia

Liberia

Sustainable Development Institute

Nigeria

ERA; Friends of the Earth Nigeria

Mexico

Reentramados para la vida, defendiendo territorio
Otros Mundos Chiapas

Philippines

Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura- UMA

Sierra Leone

Green Scenery

United States

Friends of the Earth United States
The Oakland Institute
The Borneo Project

Europe

Bruno Manser Fonds
Canopée
Denkhausbremen
Dublin Friends of the Earth
Earthsight
Ecologistas en Acción
Environmental Investigation
Agency (EIA)
Fern
FIAN Belgium
Finnish Association for Nature Conservation
Forum Ökologie & Papier
Friends of Fertő lake Association
Friends of the Earth England,
Wales and Northern Ireland
Friends of the Earth Europe
Friends of the Earth Finland
Greenpeace EU

GYBN Europe
HEKS – Swiss Church Aid
Milieudefensie
NOAH – Friends of the Earth Denmark
Pro REGENWALD
Rainforest Foundation Norway

ReAct Transnational
Rettet den Regenwald
ROBIN WOOD
Salva la Selva
Save Estonias Forests (Päästame Eesti Metsad)
Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group
Water Justice and Gender
Working group Food Justice
ZERO – Associação Sistema
Terrestre Sustentável

Back to top ↑

Here are some other ways you can help by using your wallet as a weapon and joining the #Boycott4Wildlife

What is greenwashing?

Read more

Why join the #Boycott4Wildlife?

Read more

Greenwashing Tactic #4: Fake Labels

Read more

The Counterpunch: Consumer Solutions To Fight Extinction

Read more

Contribute to my Ko-Fi

Did you enjoy visiting this website?

Palm Oil Detectives is 100% self-funded

Palm Oil Detectives is completely self-funded by its creator. All hosting and website fees and investigations into brands are self-funded by the creator of this online movement. If you like what I am doing, you and would like me to help meet costs, please send Palm Oil Detectives a thanks on Ko-Fi.

Palm Oil Detectives is 100% self-funded

Palm Oil Detectives is completely self-funded by its creator. All hosting and website fees and investigations into brands are self-funded by the creator of this online movement. If you like what I am doing, you and would like me to help meet costs, please send Palm Oil Detectives a thanks on Ko-Fi.

#animalExtinction #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #consumerBoycott #corruption #CSDDD #deforestation #ecocide #ecolabels #ethicalConsumerism #EUDR #extinction #FSC #greenwashing #humanRights #HumanRights #landgrabbing #Malaysia #MSC #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #RSPO #RSPOGreenwashing #violence

Primates are facing an impending extinction crisis – but we know very little about what will actually protect them

From lemurs to orangutans, tarsiers to gorillas, primates are captivating and sometimes unnervingly similar to us. So it’s not surprising that this group of more than 500 species receives a great deal of research and conservation attention.

60% of primates 🦍🦧🐒🐵 are threatened by #extinction 🙊🙈😿 Without direct action, the number of endangered #primates will grow and more species will disappear forever. #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife and be #vegan! @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2022/06/05/primates-are-facing-an-impending-extinction-crisis-but-we-know-very-little-about-what-will-actually-protect-them/

But despite this effort, more than 60% of primate species are threatened with extinction mainly due to human activities, such as palm oil habitat loss, hunting, illegal trade, climate change and disease.

This extinction crisis makes effective conservation actions vital. There are many different possible conservation actions for primates, like anti-poaching patrols, relocating animals, publicising conservation issues and reintroducing primates into their habitats. But our new study shows that very little is known about what actually works to protect primates.

I’m part of a team of expert primatologists and conservationists from 21 countries who examined the evidence for 162 primate conservation actions to see if they actually work. We found there wasn’t any research published testing the effectiveness of more than half of the actions. This lack of evidence means it’s impossible to know whether these actions work or not.

Even when studies on the effectiveness of a conservation action have been published, we found it was still difficult to draw valid conclusions about whether the action worked, due to problems with the design of the studies. This was even true for some actions that have been studied 20 to 30 times.

These huge gaps in knowledge are worrying, because without adequate information, researchers can’t learn from experience and can’t prioritise efforts and funding to best protect our primate relatives. Indeed, without access to evidence, conservationists might apply actions that are ineffective or even damaging to the animals they seek to protect.

Missing species

The studies we reviewed only cover about 14% of the more than 500 primate species and just 12% of threatened primate species. And they mainly focus on the great apes and some of the larger monkey species.

Worryingly, some whole families are completely left out of the studies we reviewed. There are, for example, no studies of the tarsiers of south-east Asia in our database, or of the night monkeys of Central and South America. This is a problem, because we can’t assume that an action that works for one primate species will work for another species, due to each species’ unique behaviour and ecology.

We also found that South America and Asia are underrepresented in current conservation research on primates. This is particularly worrying because both are home to a high number of threatened primate species.

Why is this happening?

Faced with limited budgets and time, competing priorities and the urgency of many conservation scenarios, it’s easy to understand why conservationists might not focus on evaluating their actions.

The question, “Does this conservation action improve the long-term future of a population?” may seem simple, but it’s particularly difficult to answer for many primates. This is because many primate species live in dense tropical forest, with poor visibility and difficult access, making it extremely tough to count them. If researchers can’t get a good idea of how many primates there are, they can’t find out if the numbers are decreasing, stable, or increasing. And without seeing the animals themselves, we can’t assess their wellbeing.

Conservationists also need to monitor primates for a long time to measure the effect of any action taken, because they live a long time and reproduce very slowly. In a short study, for example, it might be easy to confuse the long life of the last few individuals with a persistent population. It’s also important to be confident that any effects seen are related to the specific conservation action taken, rather than coincidence.

Beyond these challenges, publishing a study is difficult. Worse, the pressure to publish in prestigious journals favours publication of success stories, rather than actions that didn’t work, meaning that published studies may give a biased picture of the real situation.

Improving the evidence

Now that the scale of the problem is known, the gaps need to be identified to ensure research focuses on threatened species and understudied regions, and that actions with insufficient evidence are evaluated.

Funding organisations should dedicate resources to evaluating conservation actions. Meanwhile, experts like the Primate Specialist Group can contribute by developing guidelines on how to test actions rigorously.

Academic scientists can also collaborate with conservationists to design appropriate studies. Evidence databases like the one we assessed provide easily-understood summaries of actions and their effectiveness, as well as a place to report findings – and partially address the problem of publication.

Conservationists also need to be cautious as it’s clear that in many instances it’s not yet known if an action is effective or not. This is important because primates and their habitats face ominous threats and urgent effective conservation measures are needed to protect them. But by adopting an evidence-based approach to the conservation of primates, we can ensure they continue to enchant us in the future.

Jo Setchell, Professor of Anthropology, Durham University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

#AnimalBiodiversityNews #animalExtinction #animals #Ape #apes #BonoboPanPaniscus #BorneanOrangutanPongoPygmaeus #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #ChimpanzeePanTroglodytes #deforestation #EasternGorillaGorillaBeringei #ecology #extinction #ForgottenAnimals #monkey #Primate #primates #Primatologist #primatology #SumatranOrangutanPongoAbelii #TapanuliOrangutanPongoTapanuliensis #vegan #WesternGorillaGorillaGorilla

Ecocide: why establishing a new international crime would be a step towards interspecies justice

A movement of activists and legal scholars is seeking to make “ecocide” an international crime within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC). The Stop Ecocide Foundation has put together a prestigious international panel of experts that has just proposed a new definition of the term. Protect all animals and go #Vegan #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife

If adopted by the ICC, the proposed definition would be a historic shift, paving the way for nature and other species to count legally as protected entities in their own right. However, it remains to be seen what forms of environmental destruction might still be justified if they yield sufficient social and economic benefits for humans.

A legal definition of #ecocide in the International Criminal Court #ICC is an important step for holding to account #corrupt, world-destroying #corporations in all sectors, on behalf of all living organisms 🌴🩸🚜☠️🔥🙊⛔️ #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2022/05/22/ecocide-why-establishing-a-new-international-crime-would-be-a-step-towards-interspecies-justice/

An unofficial crime

The term ecocide was coined in 1970 by the American biologist, Arthur Galston, to designate the widespread harm caused by the US’s use of the toxic herbicide Agent Orange in the Vietnam War. Two years later, then Swedish prime minister Olof Palme described the “outrage of ecocide” in relation to the same war. But the first legal analysis and call to outlaw ecocide came from Richard Falk, a professor of international law, in 1973.

Yet ecocide has never been officially recognised. Indeed the Rome Statute, founding treaty of the International Criminal Court, mentions the environment just once, in relation to war crimes and only in situations legally qualifiable as armed conflicts. Beyond war crimes, the only other tool to protect the environment in the hands of the ICC is that of crimes against humanity. However, as the name suggests, this category remains deeply anthropocentric, requiring the environmental destruction to be “committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack” against a “civilian population”.

Even recent climate change litigation cases like the 2019 Urgenda case against the Dutch government frequently cite “human rights violations” in support. The movement behind the new definition, however, hopes to make ecocide its own thing – a crime of similar symbolic and normative force as genocide.

Environmental ethicist Philip Cafaro has referred to the human-induced sixth mass extinction as “interspecies genocide”. Legally, punishing genocide requires proving the perpetrator had the highest possible standard of special intent to destroy a protected human group. Ecocide, therefore, needs to be not just about protecting human groups, but protection of the biosphere.

Human-centred culture

Implementing ecocide as an international crime, therefore, would have to challenge longstanding particularly western attitudes of human separateness from, and superiority to, nature and nonhuman species, which continue to be seen as objects and resources.

The concept of ecocide instead means considering nature and nonhuman species as entities with inherent value, with rights that should be respected.

There are some promising developments. The groundbreaking Nonhuman Rights Project fights to secure the legal personhood and rights of nonhuman clients such as elephants, apes and dolphins across the US, while the UK government plans to introduce legislation which will recognise animals as legally sentient beings. And thanks to continued pressure from indigenous peoples, the “rights of nature” are enshrined in constitutions around the world – from India to New Zealand and Ecuador.

The Lies Begin Early by Jo Fredriks

More clarity needed

The newly-proposed definition needs further clarification, however. For instance, it says ecocide implies “unlawful or wanton acts” very likely to cause “severe and either widespread or long-term damage” to the environment.

While “unlawful” suggests that the conduct needs to be already illegal under domestic law, it is specified that “wanton” means “reckless disregard for damage which would be clearly excessive in relation to the social and economic benefits anticipated [emphases added]”.

This implies that it is OK to damage the environment as long as the damage is not “clearly excessive” in relation to the anticipated benefits for humans. In doing so, the section reinforces the anthropocentrism that the definition itself hoped to overcome.

These benefits also include not only those of “social” character but also “economic benefits”, without explicitly excluding private profits from the equation. Finally, the test for the “wanton acts” seems to require the perpetrator, rather than the court, to judge whether or not the environmental harm was clearly disproportionate.

Towards interspecies justice

The ICC was originally set up to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. If it adopts ecocide, could politicians and executives one day end up in the dock? Perhaps. The new ecocide definition refers to “widespread damage” not only in a geographic sense but also damage suffered by “an entire ecosystem, species or a large group of humans”.

We could potentially see action against top level executives from corporations accused of driving the mass deforestation of Indonesia to produce palm oil, threatening species like the orangutan, while leaders like Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, could potentially be prosecuted for the assault on the Amazon forest.

Prohibiting ecocide will require further mobilisations and global cooperation to ensure compliance from states not ratifying the relevant conventions, such as the US and China. Yet the movement marks a significant step towards stemming ecological and biological breakdown and establishing interspecies justice.

Heather Alberro, Lecturer in Global Sustainable Development, Nottingham Trent University and Luigi Daniele, Senior Lecturer in International Humanitarian and Criminal Law, Nottingham Trent University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Take Action in Five Ways

1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Instagram
• WordPress
• YouTube
• Mail
• Mastodon

Enter your email address

Sign Up

2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.

Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez

Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings

Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao

Health Physician Dr Evan Allen

The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert

How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy

3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.

https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20

https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20

https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20

4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.

5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here

The mimics among us — birds pirate songs for personal profit

From Roman classics to British tabloids, humans have long celebrated the curious and remarkable ability of #birds and other #animals to imitate the sounds of humans and other animals. A recent surge of research is revealing how and why birds use vocal mimicry to further their own interests. Far from being merely a biological curiosity, it appears that vocal mimicry plays a more central role in the lives of birds than we have given them credit for.

#Birds and other creatures 🦜🐸🐟🐒 mimic #sounds to confuse and deceive #predators ⁉️ and impress potential mates 💕 Protect #biodiversity and endangered birds when you #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🩸🔥☠️🧐🚫 #Boycott4Wildlife in the supermarket! @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2022/05/01/the-mimics-among-us-birds-pirate-songs-for-personal-profit/

Most birds communicate using vocalisations unique to their own kind, but a diverse group of species from around the globe regularly imitate the sounds of other animals, including sounds we produce ourselves.

https://youtu.be/et28frk-kAY

In Australia, these avian “mimics” are all around us. On a stroll in the Blue Mountains, for example, you can expect to encounter several of them, including arguably the world’s most famous vocal mimic, the superb lyrebird, along with lesser-known mimics like the silvereye, the satin bowerbird, the mistletoebird, the yellow-throated scrubwren, and the feisty brown thornbill.

Even the Australian magpie – better known for swooping cyclists or pinching food from picnics – occasionally quietly imitates other species of bird.

What sounds do birds imitate?

Avian vocal mimics often imitate the songs and calls of other species of bird, but they can also imitate the sounds of mammals (such as growls of yellow-bellied gliders), the hiss of snakes, and the wing-beats of birds flying by.

Birds can imitate sounds of human origin but recordings of these are rare, and many reports may come from observations of captive individuals, or may be misinterpretations of natural sounds.

https://youtu.be/KkMwZgtHVnI

The mimetic feats of birds can be gobsmacking. A single superb lyrebird can imitate more than one bird calling at the same time. The 7 gram brown thornbill can imitate the song of the predatory pied currawong, a bird more than 40 times it size. And the marsh warbler is versatile in the extreme, and is known to imitate more than 200 species of African and European birds without ever seeming to sing its own tune.

A single species may change its mimicry depending on the context. When confronted with a taxidermy owl placed on the ground, brown thornbills mimic the alarm calls that other bird species make in response to predators on the ground (listen here).

However, when a fibreglass model of a sparrowhawk is thrown over the top of them, brown thornbills mimic the alarm calls that other bird species make in response to predators in the air (listen here).

This tiny mimic, therefore, can communicate about different types of danger in several different avian “languages”.

Owl chicks that sound like rattlesnakes

Through vocal mimicry, an avian mimic can manipulate the behaviour of others for its own benefit. It seems that birds use vocal mimicry sometimes to deceive and sometimes to impress.

Deceptive vocal mimicry can allow birds to obtain food that they are not entitled to. The fork-tailed drongo of Africa mimics other species’ alarm calls to “cry wolf”, falsely signalling the impending attack of a predatory hawk. In the ensuing mayhem, the drongo steals food that has been abandoned by fleeing meerkats and pied babblers.

In Australia, the Horsfield’s bronze-cuckoo lays its eggs in the nests of superb fairy-wrens and other species, which then raise the cuckoo chick as one of their own. However, fairy-wrens have evolved a set of defences against cuckoos and may abandon a nest if they think something is amiss. The cuckoo chick ensures its survival by mimicking the begging calls of the fairy-wren’s own young.

Surprisingly, the cuckoo chick is a versatile mimic. If the chick hatches in the nest of a buff-rumped thornbill, then the cuckoo mimics the sound of buff-rumped thornbill nestlings. The cunning cuckoo tunes its mimetic begging call to the sound that elicits the most food from its host, allowing it to parasitise more than one species.

Other species seem to use vocal mimicry to deceive predators and so avoid being eaten themselves.

In the Americas, the burrowing owl lays its eggs in tunnels in the ground where the young are vulnerable predators. However, when disturbed, burrowing owl chicks produce a distinctive call that is strangely similar to the rattle of a rattlesnake. Experiments have shown that this mimetic rattle deters other animals from entering burrows.

There are several other reports of incubating adults or nestling birds producing snake-like hiss calls when disturbed. It has also been suggested that nestlings of an American woodpecker, the northern flicker, imitate the buzz of a hive of bees in order to survive an encounter with a predator.

Seduction songs

Some of the most spectacular examples of avian vocal mimicry are of birds that imitate multiple species during sexual display. Such species include the two species of lyrebird of Australia, tooth-billed bowerbirds from Queensland, and the northern mockingbird of North America.

During the breeding season, the males of these species sing long, loud bouts of the imitations of the songs and calls of other birds, which they deliver from song perches or carefully constructed display platforms.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/el8hSgA3vPA

A male superb lyrebird on one of his display mounds mimicking the birds of his forest. Dalziell & Welbergen, Blue Mountains, NSW, Australia, June 2014.

Such mimicry can be extraordinary, both for the sheer number of different sounds mimicked and for its accuracy. The superb lyrebird, for example, can produce mimicry to a level of accuracy that even the bird it imitates is confused.

Currently, the best evidence that birds use vocal mimicry to entice mates comes from studies of satin bowerbirds, found in eastern Australia.

Satin bowerbirds attract females with an elaborate display involving a decorative bower and a performance that includes vocal mimicry. Females prefer to mate with males that can accurately mimic a large number of different species of bird. Perhaps female bowerbirds can assess the male’s genetic quality through his prowess in vocal mimicry.

https://youtu.be/57xmMbZ9QfY

Australia has many avian vocal mimics, leading the early 20th century writer Alec Chisholm to suggest that this continent might have more than its fair share.

Indeed it is likely that some Australian species of avian mimics sometimes mimic each other. An avian soundscape populated by mimics is fascinating to contemplate.

The next time you go for a bushwalk, you might want to listen back to the birds you come across – are they honestly singing their own tune, or have they stolen someone else’s?

https://youtu.be/5jMTuuhTeqU

Anastasia Dalziell, Postdoctoral Associate, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University and Justin A. Welbergen, Senior Lecturer – Animal Ecology, Western Sydney University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Boycott the brands causing deforestation for palm oil, soy and meat by joining the #Boycott4Wildlife

#animalBehaviour #AnimalBiodiversityNews #animalCommunication #animalExtinction #animals #biodiversity #biomimicry #Bird #birdOfPrey #BirdOfParadise #birds #Birdsong #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #deforestation #EndSongbirdTrade #ForgottenAnimals #PapuaNewGuinea #predators #song #songbird #songbirds #sounds #waterbird #waterbirds

Conservation activists suing Indonesian zoo could inspire global action on endangered species trade

In a court in rural #Indonesia, an environmental group recently filed a lawsuit of global importance. Their case is against a zoo in North #Sumatra that it’s alleged illegally exhibited threatened species, including Komodo dragons and critically endangered Sumatran #orangutans. The illegal wildlife trade is a multibillion-dollar industry that threatens species globally, from #elephants to orchids. Plants, animals and fungi are harvested from the wild and sold to customers around the world as attractions in zoos, as pets, for food, as souvenirs or as medicine. Help animals and #BoycottWildlifeTrade #Boycott4Wildlife

People caught trafficking wildlife are typically tried in criminal law cases, in which courts impose fines or prison sentences that punish the responsible parties in order to deter would-be criminals. But in this recent case, rather than seek punishment against the Indonesian zoo, the activists brought a civil lawsuit ordering the zoo to remedy the harm it allegedly caused by exhibiting these species illegally.

Lawsuit by activists against #zoo in #Indonesia for harm caused by illegally exhibiting endangered #species was successful. It’s a new way to protect #wildlife from illegal and cruel #trafficking #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife Images @CraigJones17 https://palmoildetectives.com/2022/04/03/conservation-activists-suing-indonesian-zoo-could-inspire-global-action-on-endangered-species-trade/

In the press release announcing the lawsuit, the North Sumatra Chapter of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi Sumut) and Medan Legal Aid Institute said they were suing to cover the costs of care for one Sumatran orangutan confiscated from the zoo, and to fund monitoring of orangutan habitat to aid the recovery of their wild population. The resulting bill exceeds US$70,000 (£49,438). The typical criminal sanction for wildlife crime in Indonesia is around US$3,500.

The activists are also asking the zoo to publicly apologise and to create educational exhibits that explain how the illegal trade and use of wildlife harms nature and society. Surprisingly, these types of legal strategies that aim to repair harm – rather than punish perpetrators – have been largely overlooked by conservationists in many countries. The Indonesian zoo lawsuit could demonstrate the value of a new legal approach for protecting threatened wildlife.

Historical precedents

The zoo lawsuit parallels landmark pollution cases, such as the Exxon Valdez and Deepwater Horizon oil spills, where the responsible parties (in these cases, oil companies) were sued by government agencies and citizens and required to clean up pollution, compensate victims and restore affected habitats. It is also similar to innovative climate change lawsuits that have argued for the world’s largest oil and gas companies to pay for building protective sea walls, and other measures which help mitigate the effects of global warming.

Similar legal approaches haven’t been a major part of enforcing conservation laws. But through our work in Conservation Litigation – a project led by conservationists and lawyers – colleagues and I are working to bring such lawsuits against offenders globally.

Many countries already have laws that would allow these lawsuits, including in biodiversity hotspots such as Mexico, Democratic Republic of Congo and Indonesia. The 1992 UN Rio Convention called on states to “develop national law[s] regarding liability compensation for the victims of pollution and other environmental damage”. Although laws that oblige offenders to remedy environmental harm have been established already, the Indonesian zoo case is unique as one of the first times such a law has been applied to address wildlife crime. https://player.vimeo.com/video/510514912

The case could serve to influence public views and policies around biodiversity. This has been an important benefit of litigation in other areas, such as in cases against tobacco companies and opioid manufacturers.

Over the years, these lawsuits have secured compensation for healthcare costs, public admissions of guilt from executives and corrective adversiting to clarify earlier misinformation. These cases have not only benefited individual victims, but helped shift attitudes and reform public health policies and company practices.

The zoo lawsuit could achieve something similar by holding the zoo liable for downstream harms caused by its involvement in the illegal wildlife trade. By requesting public apologies and support for educational programmes, the lawsuit would not only seek to remedy harm to individual animals and species, but to help shape public perceptions and policy.

It’s also significant that this case is being brought by a non-governmental organisation (NGO). Governments can bring criminal cases against offenders, while the NGOs cannot. But in many countries, citizens and civil society groups are permitted to launch civil lawsuits in response to environmental harm, expanding the potential for public conservation action.

These types of lawsuits are often hindered by difficulties paying lawyers, corruption in legal systems and the intimidation of activists. With more than one million species potentially facing extinction, it’s important to recognise and support these rare cases which are testing new ways to protect the planet’s most threatened forms of life.

Jacob Phelps, Senior Lecturer in Conservation Governance, Lancaster University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

How can I help the #Boycott4Wildlife?

1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.

2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.

3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.

4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.

5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you or to help pay for ongoing running costs.

Enter your email address

Sign Up

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Instagram
• WordPress
• Mail

Share palm oil free purchases online and shame companies still using dirty palm oil!

Don’t forget to tag in #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife to get shared

https://twitter.com/ECOWARRIORSS/status/1625103083175923713

https://twitter.com/MAPICC2021/status/1643269215929999360

https://twitter.com/netzfrauen/status/1806059662703222960

https://twitter.com/JosieAllan4/status/1716432333698392163

https://twitter.com/ChiweenieT14381/status/1872709841040687385

Almost 90% of the world’s animal species will lose some habitat to agriculture by 2050

Scientists know that #biodiversity is declining across much of the world although less universally and dramatically than we feared. We also know that things are likely to get worse in the future, with a combination of #deforestation, #climatechange and overexploitation set to drive species and habitats ever closer to #extinction. Help them every time you shop and be #vegan #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife

The biggest threat to #biodiversity 🐘🌿🦒 is from #deforestation for food #agriculture. Protect #rainforest and ocean animals with a #plantbased #vegan diet, use your wallet as a weapon and #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🪔🙊⛔️ #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2022/03/20/almost-90-of-the-worlds-animal-species-will-lose-some-habitat-to-agriculture-by-2050/

What we don’t know, is what to do about this. Partly this is because conservation is woefully underfunded. But it’s also because the underlying causes of biodiversity declines are getting stronger and stronger every year. Climate change rightly gets a huge amount of coverage, but for biodiversity, the biggest threat actually comes from the destruction of natural habitats to make way for agriculture. And as global populations grow, and people become wealthier and consume more, that need for new agricultural land is just going to increase, resulting in at least 2 million sq km of new farmland by 2050, and maybe as much as 10 million.

Ensuring that this coming wave of agricultural expansion doesn’t lead to widespread biodiversity losses is going to require a big increase in “conventional” conservation approaches (protected areas and the like), but it is probably going to require something more too. These existing approaches are similar to performing heart surgery: very effective for the targeted species and habitats, but also not feasible for every species.

Santa Catarina’s Guinea Pig Cavia intermedia

Santa Catarina’s Guinea Pig are enchanting critically endangered rodents under threat from climate change. Advocate for climate action now! #Boycott4Wildlife

Saola Pseudoryx nghetinhensis

Saolas are rare and considered Southeast Asia’s ‘unicorns’, this Critically Endangered antelope is facing imminent extinction due to hunting and deforestation

Ecuadorean Viscacha Lagidium ahuacaense

Ecuadorean Viscachas are plump and fluffy rodents with sage-like long whiskers, only a handful of them remain alive. Take action for them and boycott4wildlife!

Sumatran Tiger Panthera tigris sondaica

The Sumatran tiger Panthera tigris sondaica is a critically endangered big cat, with less than 600 of their species alive in the wild today. Once living in…

Glaucous Macaw Anodorhynchus glaucus

The Glaucous #Macaw stands out not only for their vibrant coloration but also for their vocalisations, which led to its Guaraní name “guaa-obi.” As part of a…

Attenborough’s Long-Beaked Echidna Zaglossus attenboroughi

Attenborough’s long-beaked echidna (Zaglossus attenboroughi), known locally as “Payangko,” is one of the most evolutionarily distinct mammals and is native to the Cyclops Mountains in Papua, Indonesia.…

Encountering the World’s Most Endangered Kangaroo: The Wondiwoi Tree Kangaroo

Encounter the Wondiwoi tree-kangaroo. Rediscovered in 2018, these rare marsupials from West Papua are a symbol of hope amidst threats from palm oil, hunting

Alta Floresta titi monkey Plecturocebus grovesi

The enchanting Groves Titi Monkey, also referred to as the Alta Floresta titi #monkey or Mato Grosso titi monkey went from being completely unknown to being one…

Jerdon’s Courser Rhinoptilus bitorquatus

The Jerdon’s Courser is a rare and captivating nocturnal #songbird belonging to the pratincole and courser family Glareolidae. These #birds are endemic to #India in the Eastern…

Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.

Instead, we need to tackle the underlying causes, or conservation is not going to be able to cope. What we set out to do in a study just published in Nature Sustainability is to work out exactly which landscapes and species are likely to be the most threatened by agriculture in the future, and which specific changes to the food system give us the best chance of safeguarding wild biodiversity in different parts of the world.

Biodiversity under business-as-usual

To do this, we developed a method to forecast where agricultural land is likely to expand at very fine spatial scales (1.5km x 1.5km). We then overlaid these forecasts with habitat maps for almost 20,000 species of amphibians, birds and mammals, and observations of whether each species can exist in agricultural land. This allowed us to calculate the proportion of habitat each species would lose from 2010 to 2050.

Overall, we projected that almost 88% of species will lose habitat, with 1,280 losing over a quarter of their remaining habitat.

By looking at the impact on individual species in this way, and at such a fine spatial scale, we were able to identify specific regions, and even species, that are likely to be in serious need of conservation support in the coming decades.

Losses are likely to be particularly bad in Sub-saharan Africa, especially in the Rift Valley and equatorial West Africa, but there will also be serious declines in Latin America – particularly in the Atlantic Rainforest – and South-East Asia.

Importantly, many of the species projected to lose a lot of habitat are not currently threatened, and so conservationists may not be concerned about them. We think this kind of species and location-specific forecasting is going to be increasingly important if we are to proactively work to prevent biodiversity losses.

Proactive changes to help save biodiversity

OK, so far so bleak. Fortunately, there are some things we could do to alleviate this habitat loss, including: raise yields, eat healthier plant based diets, reduce food waste, or even a take a global approach to land-use planning, which could direct food production away from the most at-risk regions. In our study, we found that a combination of all four actions could avoid the vast majority of habitat loss seen under business-as-usual. Doing so, however, will require concerted efforts from governments, companies, NGOs, and individual people.

Our approach allowed us to tease apart which approaches are likely to have the biggest impacts in different parts of the world. In Sub-Saharan Africa, for example, our results suggest increasing yields is one of the biggest single things you can do to save biodiversity. It means you can produce the food you need from much smaller areas, and so massively reduce habitat clearance.

Palm oil creates ecological wastelands and species extinction

In contrast, yield increases will do very little in North America, where yields are already close to their maximum. Shifting to healthier diets, however, could have a massive impact in North America, reducing demand for animal products, and therefore demand for new agricultural land. Again, this contrasts with Sub-Saharan Africa, where healthier diets may actually involve increased consumption of both calories and animal products, and therefore will not bring great biodiversity benefits.

Saving biodiversity while feeding 10 billion

Importantly, we only looked at the impact of agricultural expansion on biodiversity. Other threats facing wild nature include climate change, pollution, habitat destruction for other reasons, or overharvesting resources like fish or valuable tropical hardwoods. Still, biodiversity is likely to decline massively, and conventional conservation is unlikely to be able to cope.

Nonetheless, our research at least provides some hope. With swift, ambitious and coordinated action, we can indeed provide a healthy and secure diet for the world’s population without further major loss of habitats. Many of these actions should be priorities anyway, at every level from individual actions to international policy. Healthier diets to combat perhaps the greatest public health crisis in the world; wasting less food; increasing agricultural yields to improve food security; these are all hugely important goals in their own right.

David Williams, Lecturer in Sustainability and the Environment, University of Leeds and Michael Clark, Postdoctoral Researcher, Oxford Martin Programme on the Future of Food, University of Oxford

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

How can I help the #Boycott4Wildlife?

1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.

2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.

3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.

4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.

5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you or to help pay for ongoing running costs.

Enter your email address

Sign Up

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Instagram
• WordPress
• Mail

Share palm oil free purchases online and shame companies still using dirty palm oil!

Don’t forget to tag in #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife to get shared

https://twitter.com/ECOWARRIORSS/status/1625103083175923713

https://twitter.com/MAPICC2021/status/1643269215929999360

https://twitter.com/netzfrauen/status/1806059662703222960

https://twitter.com/JosieAllan4/status/1716432333698392163

https://twitter.com/ChiweenieT14381/status/1872709841040687385

Bonobos can inspire us to make our democracies more peaceful

#Bonobos, sometimes called the “forgotten #ape” due to their recent discovery and small numbers, titillate the democrat’s imagination. Before the 1970s, certain primatologists thought bonobos were strange #chimpanzees because females govern in this primate society.Frans de Waal, the primatologist and popular writer, has done much to explain the fascinating lives of these “peace-loving #apes” and how they are changing the story of human evolution. Bonobos are unique among apes for how they settle day-to-day conflicts. Personalities and social standing are evident in their society. Squabbles are frequent within or between groups. Bonobos defuse the potentially violent tension in these conflicts through quick bursts of sex, mutual grooming, hugs and kisses, and mimicking the sounds each other makes. Help these remarkable intelligent beings survive when you #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife

Blissful #bonobos resolve conflict in (mostly) peaceful ways. Maybe they can inspire #human #democracies to be fairer, kinder and more just? Help these remarkable beings to survive #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🔥🩸🚜❌ #Boycott4Wildlife #apes #primates @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2022/02/20/bonobos-can-inspire-us-to-make-our-democracies-more-peaceful/

We can see reflections of ourselves – the good, the bad and the ugly – in bonobos, and in other apes too.

https://youtu.be/gDCBovxoEDk

The trick is to use intimate, gentle, genuine techniques to find common ground with one’s opponent. It’s the bonobos’ way to say “it’s alright” and to repair any emotional sores from the dispute. It doesn’t always happen this way, especially between rival groups, but violence is the exception to the rule.

Inspirations

We value peace today, so the discovery of the bonobo gives us hope that Homo sapiens aren’t naturally sadistic terrors kept in check only by the power of authority or the divine, the fear of the afterlife.

Gorillas, another close relative, offer inspiration too. While a very large male protects most small groups, he’s more bodyguard than despot. Gorillas reach decisions through co-operation between the sexes.

Baboons also offer a counter view to our supposed nasty and brutish inner nature. In a troop of hamadryas or olive baboons you’d soon be able to spot the stronger individuals. And you might assume they simply call the shots: only they don’t.

Baboons have a more delicate form of collective decision-making. This involves sitting in the right place and waiting to see where a majority develops. In this way, more than a few individuals share leadership.

Now we come to chimpanzees, the species that has been most influential in how we picture the earliest human behaviour. They are patriarchal, hierarchical, constantly scheming to get ahead in rank and sometimes shockingly violent. Yet, if the times are good (food’s abundant), they can be consensual, mellow and peaceful.

Like the bonobos, chimps try to repair emotional damage after a fight because the group has to work or else everyone’s survival is at risk.

That said, bonobos, gorillas, baboons and chimpanzees aren’t a reflection of our past. As Frans de Waal and science journalist Virginia Morell observe, these species have been evolving alongside us since we all split from our common ancestor. Looking at them isn’t the same as looking back.

However, we can relate to the behaviours in these species – we can see ourselves in them. Perhaps, we wonder, we’ve always had the capacity for peace and violence; we’ve always lived in the political spectrum between violent autocracy and peaceful democracy.

Our species is certainly trying to strengthen the latter now. Perhaps the bonobos, or the other apes, can help us do better by inspiring us to think differently.

Imagine if we could stop being violent to one another. The violence that democrats living in democracies commit online or in person, often in public among strangers, limits if not wastes our capacity to be peaceful in our everyday lives.

Let’s say a fight starts over a parking space. You saw it first, had your blinker on to “claim it”, when that omfg no-you-didn’t creature of a moron steals it. I’ve reason to believe that, when slighted in this way, most of us want to punch this stranger in the face or trash their car.

Trying to find common ground with them then and there seems bizarre. Stranger still is to entertain the thought that maybe you and the spot-thief might then give each other a hug or a smooch, mount each other for a while, run your fingers through one another’s hair and say: “You know what, it’s all right, have a nice day”.

I play to the absurd here because I’m not arguing that we should try to perfectly replicate the way bonobos avoid violence. Echoing a point that Laurence Whitehead once made, we shouldn’t confuse inspiration with replication.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9BFjr_x0vU

We should rather try to draw inspiration from the bonobos to enrich our own practices, to enhance today’s human democracies. We might do equally well to dream about rhesus monkeys and their aversion to inequality, or spider monkeys and their patient if not wondrously just lives.

These primates place emphasis on avoiding violence and inequality because peace keeps them working together. It helps them survive.

And that’s important for us: peace and social cohesion are the legs our democracies strive to stand on.

The opposite, violence and social division, beckons to the Beetlejuice of regimes: benevolent authoritarianism, that hated but necessary stabiliser of states when times are bad.

It’s crucial to remember that avoiding violence builds trust and confidence in the group and between groups. It’s what the bonobos do so well. Yet in our societies we’re still struggling to use words and care instead of fists, guns, mines and bombs.

Political theorist John Keane once alluded: the future if not quality of democracy depends on our ability to exchange violence for peace. For the sake of our democracies, we need to be able to make this exchange, from those everyday moments in the carpark to those times in the lives of nations when diplomacy gives way to conflict.

Lessons

It’s not simply the normative visions of a democracy changed that the examples of non-human life offer. We can learn from the down-to-earth, concrete and special techniques that non-humans use to make decisions.

The process of evolution creates replicating systems – ones that work. It happens simply through the genes that survive millions of years of trial and error. As a result, the lives of many non-humans may offer more than a few masterclasses in social success.

Take the European honeybee, for example. In his book, Honeybee Democracy, Thomas Seeley explains how bees make the life-or-death decision on where to build their next hive.

Once a hive reaches capacity – no room is left for making more bees or honey – the existing queen and most of the bees move out. They must start a new hive.

It’s down to the oldest forager bees, which usually account for 3% to 5% of the worker bees (talk about representation), to get more than half their family – potentially upwards of 30,000 individuals – out of the hive. Once this massive swarm is out, the elder bees direct it to cluster somewhere around the queen until they find a suitable site for the new hive.

At this point, the 1000 or so elder bees, who’ve swapped from food foragers to house scouts, travel several kilometres in all directions. They’re looking for that perfect site.

Bees are choosy. The hive site must satisfy several criteria. These include the location and diameter of the entrance (it’s important no rain can get in and that there is only one entrance); whether it faces the sun (this keeps the hive warmer in winter); the height above the ground (the higher the better to deter predators); if it’s in a tree (trees are preferred); and the available space. If it’s too big, the bees will freeze in winter. Too small, and they won’t have enough food to last through the cold months.

Choosing the wrong hive site might mean the human equivalent of a small town dying.

Honeybees evolved decision-making techniques because so much is riding on the decision elder bees make on behalf of the whole. Seeley thinks we should be studying and learning from these techniques.

When a scout bee returns to the swarm after finding a site that ticks all the boxes she lets the freak out in her waggle dance. Her dance tells other scout bees she’s on to something good.

However, rather than accepting the force of her presentation (charisma you might say), each scout flies off to the site that got the scout dancing with excitement to independently verify her claim.

If it really is the promised land, each scout returns to replicate the dance of the first. If not, the scouts will see who else is dancing, independently verify their claim, and potentially follow their dance.

Once around 70% of the scouts are broadcasting the same site, the other scouts stop advertising alternatives and join the majority.

So the decision’s made. It’s time to rouse the 30,000 into the air and for the scouts to direct the swarm to the agreed site.

The independent verification bees use to make high-quality decisions speaks directly to the problems we face in democratic assemblies. The ability of charismatic speech to sway others without proving the evidence in the speaker’s argument, the entrenchment of factions around shared values and not evidence, the capitulation of younger or less knowledgeable individuals confronted by older experts, and so on, all point to our difficulties in using evidence-based decision-making. https://www.youtube.com/embed/JnnjY823e-w?wmode=transparent&start=0 Tom Seeley explains how swarming honeybees choose a new home.

Obviously we’re not bees. We’re value-laden and sometimes irrational primates with our own host of problems specific to our species.

Even if we perfectly executed the bees’ independent verification technique, a person could very well say: “No, regardless of the evidence I’ve just verified which is contrary to my original position, I will maintain that wind mills sour cow’s milk, or that my kids don’t need vaccinating, or that climate change isn’t a threat.”

In fact, majority decision-making is, out of all the available democratic decision-making systems, the least preferable for many of us. People like reaching consensus and they like proportionality because it’s fair. And a lot of the decisions assemblies make aren’t questions of life or death, so we don’t really feel like there’s that much at stake.

That said, seeking to learn from bees, and to reflect on what they do so well and what we don’t do that well, generates space for tinkering with the “how”. It creates an opportunity to alter our democratic procedures for the better. We could do this, for example, by establishing a standard practice of independent verification – one that works for us – before an assembly makes a decision.

“Enrolling in nature’s masterclasses”, provided free to us by evolution, doesn’t put our human democracies to question. Rather, it gives us the chance to strengthen them, refine them, make them better.

Analogies

Lastly, by drawing comparisons between non-human and human life we can make analogies about democracy’s issues.

Look, for instance, to the parasites found in nature. There are blood-suckers of blood-suckers (a midge that drinks the blood from a mosquito that just drank it from you), wasps that inject their eggs into other insects, body-snatching fungi, mind-altering protozoans and murderously dishonest amoebas. They might remind democrats of the perils of individuals who manipulate and use democracy for their own ends.

The strangleweed, Cuscuta pentagona, is a parasitic plant. From the moment its seed has sprouted, the seedling “feels” around for a different plant. It’s going to live off this plant.

Once in range, the strangleweed takes a gentle hold of its victim and pierces the host’s stem with a haustorium (effectively a pointy green syringe). It does this not only to drink the host’s sugars but also to swap genetic information (RNA) with it.

Researchers think that C. pentagona reads the host’s genetic information to gain an understanding of its victim’s condition. But the strangleweed also sends its own genetic information to the host, like a Trojan horse designed to keep the victim from realising it’s being used.

Since at least the times of usurious monarchs or the entrenchment of transnational capital, democrats have made the point about parasitic elites.

The transnational capitalist class roam this world looking for the best hosts to do their business with. They find their way past barriers to take information from sovereign states, send reassurances to them, and then begin the process of extracting wealth from them to maintain their status as this world’s first global oligarchs.

I think here in particular of the dealings between mining companies and small cash-poor states. Like the strangleweed’s initial wandering tentacle, the company sends its agents to find where it can get a grip on the host.

The company uses charm offensives, lobbyists and sometimes bribes to transfuse information between it and the host. The two become a hybridised one. The company releases public relations information to keep the host satiated if not to massage it into accepting that the company is here to stay – that is, until the sugars run out.

The relationship between a multinational company and a sovereign state can be, like the relationship between the strangleweed and its victim, asymmetrical. On both sides of the analogy the parasite lives at the expense of the host, which is left almost powerless to defend itself.

Now, we should recognise that this baldly polemical interpretation of multinational companies and their governors doesn’t mean they’re no different from a parasitic plant, nor do they function for the same reason as the strangleweed, whose aim is reproduction.

What we get from this analogy is, instead, a reflection from reality’s broken mirror. Looking at the strangleweed and then to the transnational capitalist class creates a snapshot perception, an imperfect but still handy image, for the democrat to use.

Extinction, the death of possibilities

As writer Elizabeth Kolbert says in her own way: with each extinction of a non-human species we see ourselves further ruined.

Earth is home to at least one million species, and likely more. Many species make collective decisions, solve problems together and survive as a group. Losing a living species to extinction also means, from a selfishly human perspective, losing a potential opportunity to improve today’s democracies by the inspirations, lessons and analogies that only the evolution of other life forms can impart to us.

Non-humans evolved their own techniques and behaviours – which we can make sense of using words from the vocabulary of democracy – because they work for them. It’s 100% pragmatic. Nature’s tool chest, you might say.

Admittedly, these tools may not be fit for our purposes. After all, we aren’t bonobos, bees or parasitic plants. But it’s also fair to say that we’d be rash not to try to find help in them, especially if enriching our democratic practices in this way could help solve some of the problems confronting us.

Here we can say that our destruction of non-humans is destroying a part of ourselves, of our democracies’ hope of reaching their fuller potential. Perhaps, out of respect for their existence and our own, it’s time to include non-humans in that all-too-human affair we call democracy.

You can read parts one and two of the essay here.

Jean-Paul Gagnon, Assistant Professor in Politics, University of Canberra

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

#animalBehaviour #AnimalBiodiversityNews #animalCommunication #animalExtinction #animalIntelligence #animalRights #Ape #apes #bonobo #Bonobos #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #Chimpanzees #democracies #democracy #human #Mammal #Primate #primates #Primatologist #primatology #sentience

Laughs, Cries and Deception: The Complex Lives of Birds

#Birds can certainly get very angry – and the owner of a galah or corella would be well advised not to get near this bird when the head feathers are raised — but birds can be joyful and playful, can get depressed and, as studies have shown, a neglectful or bare environment can even make them pessimistic.

Birds may feel for others (have empathy) and even console them, may have a sense of justice, may show deep affection for their partner and grieve for their loss. I witnessed the mate of a fatally injured tawny frogmouth not moving from the spot next to their dead partner for three days, and then dying on the fourth. 🌴🩸🧐 Be #vegan for them! ❌ #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife

#Parrot #cockatoo lovers will tell you, #birds 🦤🦃🦜🪿🦆🕊️ get angry, feel empathy, have a deep sense of justice and affection for their partners #Bird #intelligence 🌴🩸🧐 Be #vegan for them! ❌#Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/10/20/laughs-cries-and-deception-birds-emotional-lives-are-just-as-complicated-as-ours/

July on the Northern Tableland, near Armidale in New South Wales, is usually the beginning of the breeding season and field observations start early.

I sat and watched in freezing temperatures. The sun was just rising above the horizon of this 1000m-high plateau when through binoculars I saw a young lone magpie, walking gingerly, literally tip-toeing, occasionally interrupted by little bouts of running and, unusually, heading straight for its territorial boundary.

In the last stretch to the border, the bird edged along a row of pine trees, staying low, and kept looking over its shoulder, especially when crossing the neighbour’s border. Shortly afterwards, a female was seen in his company.

Later, the male backtracked and, when far enough into his own territory, started foraging rather aimlessly as if nothing had happened.

What had I witnessed? Did this young male magpie understand that he was breaking several important magpie social rules and could face punishment for this transgression if caught? Did he have a sense of morality?

Science has traditionally shunned the idea of emotions in animals, not just for fear of anthropomorphism or over-interpretation, but also because there is a very long cultural history that played out a divide between mind and body and reason and emotions.

Reason, thinking and making judgements were stubbornly thought to be outside the capacity of animals. For a long time it was not believed that animals were even capable of feeling pain, let alone complex emotions. We now know that is far from the truth.

Birds with feelings

Pet owners have always known that their pets can be affectionate, sulky, jealous, sad, excited and deliberately naughty, as well as doing extraordinary things for their owners. The animals we know best in this regard are obviously dogs and cats.

Charles Darwin was the first to discuss emotions in animals in the mid-19th century. A century later, Niko Tinbergen addressed the vexing question of emotions.

Following on from Darwin, he identified “four Fs” as part of survival: fight, flee, fornicate and feed. These translate into basic feelings of fear, hunger and sexual drive – now called motivational states.

But there is a lot more to bird emotions. Dangerous and horrible experiences are usually remembered. Memory helps survival. Modern urban birds have been shown to remember faces of people considered dangerous and threatening.

We now know that the bird brain is lateralised (each side of the brain controls a different set of functions) as in humans and other vertebrates. The right hemisphere expresses intense emotions (such as fear and attack). The left hemisphere has routine, considered responses and may inhibit some of the strong responses of the right hemisphere.

So birds are more similar to humans than had ever been thought, but with an important difference: birds are generally not aggressive without cause. Technically, aggression is an emotion that is dysfunctional, has no purpose and often even harms the individual displaying it.

Birds can certainly get very angry – and the owner of a galah or corella would be well advised not to get near this bird when the head feathers are raised — but birds can be joyful and playful, can get depressed and, as studies have shown, a neglectful or bare environment can even make them pessimistic.

Birds may feel for others (have empathy) and even console them, may have a sense of justice, may show deep affection for their partner and grieve for their loss. I witnessed the mate of a fatally injured tawny frogmouth not moving from the spot next to its dead partner for three days, and then dying on the fourth.

Social smarts

Australian native birds have an unusually high percentage of pair-bonding (over 90% of species) and the highest concentrations of cooperative species (relatives or siblings helping at the nest) anywhere in the world. Cockatoos bonding for life often have intense close partnerships, which are nurtured by constant grooming and attention to each other’s needs.

Such intense cohabitation of individuals, often for many years (how about 60 years of “marriage” in sulphur-crested cockatoos?), may also create frictions and dissatisfactions that require solutions to keep the pair or group together.

For instance, the lazy helper at the nest who only pretends to help in feeding, as happens among white-winged choughs, may get scolded by an adult. A group of apostlebirds building a mud nest together, transporting mud to the nest in relays, may spot an individual that is not pulling its weight.

I have witnessed on several occasions near Copeton Dam (in Inverell, NSW) apostlebirds become so outraged that they approach the individual with heightened calling and may even peck it until the intimidated individual falls back into line and does its share.

Empathy, altruism and consoling the injured or vanquished have all been observed in birds, thought to be the ultimate in consideration for another individual’s state of mind.

For instance, there are observations of dusky wood-swallows (belonging to the same family of birds as butcherbirds and magpies) in Western Australia’s Wheatbelt hassling a restless flycatcher with a larva in his beak, perched on a branch. One wood-swallow flew above the flycatcher, while the other simultaneously flew directly at it, snatched the larva from its beak while it was distracted by the other bird hovering overhead, and took it away. So who got the prize?

If all behaviour in animals is selfish, then the one who caught it should have gulped it down, but it did not. It gave it to the bird that had distracted the flycatcher. Perhaps the two birds reversed roles in the next, similar, situation. But it still meant overcoming the temptation to eat.

A noisy miner, one of the cooperative honeyeaters, I had hand-raised grew up over several weeks in the company of very young ridgeback pups near the edge of a nature reserve in a NSW coastal area.

One pup was sleeping on the porch in the sun and I was some distance away. I was alerted by the alarm calls of the noisy miner and turned around to see it swooping right down to a lace monitor’s head – doing so over and over again. I ran as quickly as I could, by now also shouting once the risk to the pup was more than apparent.

When the monitor spotted me, it turned and fled. The noisy minor had risked its life to save the pup. At no other occasion did the bird attempt to swoop a lace monitor. Its response was very specific to this situation.

And, as I have been asked often, could birds have a sense of humour? Perhaps.

Our gallah, Philip, deeply affectionate (and jealous!) had learned the names of all our dogs and was such a good mimic of our voices that he could easily and effectively call the dogs to attention.

Imagine the picture: a bird less than a foot tall, standing on the floor and calling four massive Rhodesian ridgebacks to attention. Then, when he got them all in line in front of him, he walked away, swaying his head and even making little chuckling sounds.

The degree to which emotions and complex feelings for others were developed may well depend on social organisation. It may be that birds with long-term social bonds show more complex behaviour and brains than those whose associations are only fleeting.

What they get out of it is perhaps not debatable — more joy, more grief, but also a greater degree of safety and usually a longer life. There are clear benefits of sticking together in a difficult and fickle continent.

Gisela Kaplan, Professor of Animal Behaviour, University of New England This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

#animalBehaviour #AnimalBiodiversityNews #animalExtinction #animals #Bird #birdOfPrey #birds #Birdsong #BlueBirdOfParadiseParadisornisRudolphi #BlueEyedCockatooCacatuaOphthalmica #BorneanPeacockPheasantPolyplectronSchleiermacheri #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #cockatoo #cognition #GoldieSBirdOfParadiseParadisaeaDecora #intelligence #Parrot #songbird #songbirds #SumatranLeafbirdChloropsisMedia #vegan

What, Why and Where of Black Leopards

Did you know that Black #leopards only differ from other leopards by the colour of their coat, a genetic variation that’s #recessive also known as melanism? One of their threats is #palmoil #deforestation. Help their survival be #vegan #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife in the supermarket

DYK Black #leopards 🐆🐈‍⬛🖤 only differ from other leopards by the colour of their coat, a genetic variation known as #melanism. A major threat is #palmoil #deforestation. Help them and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife in the supermarket @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/07/28/the-why-what-and-where-of-the-worlds-black-leopards/

Where are black leopards found in Africa?

There have been a number of reports of black leopard in Africa, but very few confirmed sightings.

A 2017 global review of black leopard observations found reports of the animal in Ethiopia, Kenya, and South Africa dating back to 1909. But the only confirmed report was from Ethiopia.

There isn’t very much data when it comes to leopards. Global leopard population numbers are unknown, as are the population numbers for many leopard subspecies.

Black leopards only differ from other leopards in the colour of their coat, a genetic variation that’s recessive and known as “melanism”.

Black leopards are found more often in densely forested habitats. Most confirmed sightings come from south-east Asia. The concentration of these are in the Malay Peninsula, where more than 90% of leopards are black. The frequency and distribution of black leopards in Africa is still part of ongoing research.

Based on what’s known about the type of terrain black leopards prefer it’s predicted that they would be present along the equator across western, central and eastern Africa.

We started our leopard conservation programme nearly two years ago in Laikipia County, central Kenya. The goals of our research are to determine population abundance and status of leopards in the area, and to mitigate human-leopard conflict.

As part of this research, we began recording black leopard observations last year. Since then we have confirmed three different melanistic individuals in our study area, suggesting that these leopards may be more common than first thought.

Why are they black, and does this offer any advantages over other leopards?

Melanism in leopards comes from a mutation that knocks out a gene that regulates the production of melanin. This causes an over production of pigment which turns the coat black.

The coat still has all the same features as a non-melanistic leopard, including the rosettes or spots which is one of the pieces of evidence we used in our study to scientifically confirm black leopard presence in Kenya.

Broadly, melanism has arisen independently in the cat family multiple times, and exists in 13 of the 37 cat species in the Felidae family. This suggests an adaptive significance to carrying this trait.

Black leopards are thought to persist in densely forested habitats, because it offers additional camouflage against shaded or dark backgrounds. For example, in tropical forests in the Malay Peninsula, melanism is displayed at such a high frequency that it’s likely that this is an advantageous trait in natural selection, rather than occurring by chance alone.

So, it’s interesting that our research has confirmed black leopards living in an open, arid environment in Kenya, where shade is limited.

This raises questions about whether being black in an arid environment influences hunting strategy, mating and reproduction. And whether there are natural selection mechanisms, other than camouflage, that allow melanism to persist in leopards.

Are there any specific threats faced by black leopards, and what needs to be done to protect them?

Leopards face a number of threats, including habitat loss, prey loss, conflict with humans and poaching and trafficking of their parts. These threats face all leopards, black included.

It’s unknown if black leopards face more persecution than non-melanistic leopards. If a leopard were to kill livestock, it would face persecution from locals regardless of its coat colour. However, through our conversations with communities we found stories that reveal a level of protection towards the big cats. When hunting in Kenya was legal, some guides refused to shoot black leopards. In Samburu culture in the Laikipia Plateau, owning a black cow is thought to be lucky to livestock herders, and the principle of rarity extends to black leopard. Sighting one is thought to be a symbol which requires interpretation and reflection.

Hopefully the global attention garnered recently by the black leopard images will move public consciousness to recognise leopards and their plight in conservation.

Sam Williams, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Zoology, University of Venda, Researcher at IGDORE, and Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Anthropology, Durham University. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Take Action in Five Ways

1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Instagram
• WordPress
• YouTube
• Mail
• Mastodon

Enter your email address

Sign Up

2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.

Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez

Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings

Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao

Health Physician Dr Evan Allen

The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert

How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy

3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.

https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20

https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20

https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20

4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.

5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here

Nature’s Hidden Wealth: Conservation’s Opportunity

Animals and plants constitute a very small part of our native biodiversity (roughly 5%). The vast majority – fungi, bacteria and the enormous diversity of other microscopic organisms, including invertebrates – is a massive, largely unexplored economic resource.

The best known examples of commercial uses for biodiversity are the thousands of drugs secreted by bacteria and fungi. But others are examples of what is known as “bio-inspiration” and “bio-mimicry”, where wild species provide the blueprints for products. The combination of nature and biotechnology can offer us all a tentative reason to hope for the future.

#Research finds that the wealth of #biodiversity in #forests from #fungi 🍄 #plants 🌿 and #animals 🐦🪶🐞 has immense value that we don’t even know about yet, and a tentative reason to hope 🙏✨ #Biotechnology #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/04/28/natures-hidden-wealth-is-conservations-missed-opportunity/

While these products are of immense commercial value, the source species are rarely harvested in the conventional sense. Rather, a few specimens provide ample material for analysis.

So for microbes, invertebrates or plants, there is little concern that these industries are threats. For vertebrates, such as sharks, samples are either non-destructive or severely limited.

Some of the products such as spider silk and gecko feet are well known. But these are the tip of an iceberg.

Other innovations include fire detection inspired by charcoal beetles, clinical compounds from scorpions and leaping robots from locusts. In fact, bio-mimicry is huge in robotics, including the astonishing new field of “soft robots” modelled on tentacles, caterpillars and worms.

Products such as drugs can be sourced from single-celled animals and plants and from microbes of all kinds, even those that are currently uncultivable. Super-water-repellent materials, are sourced from the outer surfaces of organisms as different as insects and higher plants.

Then there is bio-mineralization: soft-bodied animals make very hard substances, such as the radula of marine snails, a tongue tough enough to drill rock. To make materials that strong, industry currently requires high temperatures and pressures, not to mention polluting chemicals.

The snails make their radula and shell from natural materials and at normal temperatures and pressures. How do they do it? Many labs around the world are struggling to find out.

Why are these stories so important?

How can exploring biodiversity help conserve it?

First, much as charismatic animals such as tigers and whales are used as icons for conservation, so can species that we use for developing products – but with the added grunt that they are central to the economy. These are very sexy stories; fascinating tales of the transformation of natural phenomena into industrial products.

Australia’s Biodiversity Conservation Strategy states that we must “engage all Australians” to save biodiversity. But leaving out biodiversity and industrial products is a massive lost opportunity for engagement.

Second, as biodiversity products come from any kind of organism from any kind of ecosystem, these growing industries require the conservation of that resource. This would greatly expand the current conservation focus on a few charismatic species.

Third, much of biodiversity exploration research is overseas. Some Australian scientists and engineers are involved, for example, in utilising the arrangements of plant fibres to inspire lightweight strengthening of aircraft engines. However, it is hard to find the promotion of this exciting research in any policy nation-wide; political, economic or scientific.

Given Prime Minister Turnbull’s focus on innovation, and given that Australian biodiversity is both vast and unique, overlooking biomimicry and its related industries is another lost opportunity for both conservation and the national economy.

Scientists and engineers inside many industries are forging ahead with exploration for biodiversity products in many, non-destructive and highly imaginative ways all over the world.

It’s time our governments and conservationists wised up.

Andrew Beattie, Emeritus Professor, Macquarie University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

#AnimalBiodiversityNews #animalExtinction #animals #biodiversity #biotech #biotechnology #climateChange #conservation #ForgottenAnimals #fungi #nature #newTechnology #plant