Page 118 - BBC Wildlife Volume 36 #10

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Star Risksversusrewards
letter
Thank you to Mark Carwardine for his
very interesting and eye-opening article
on conservationists being killed (My Way
of Thinking, July 2018). It raised some
very important points worth noting. I
am just about to start an Animal Biology
Relief on the redesign
I was a little concerned when
I read that BBC Wildlife was to
be updated. In my experience,
updating does not necessarily
mean an improvement – all too
frequently it means a smaller
magazine at the same price
as the older version.
However, I am pleased to
say that the updated magazine
is even better than the older
version. There were so many
interesting and thought-
provoking articles in the
July magazine, amazing
photography, as always – and
you have still retained the
crossword and quiz. Well done!
Anne Eaves, via e-mail
Spider spotting
Following your inclusion of
a wasp mimic (Wild Month,
July 2018), I was thrilled to
spot my first wasp spider at
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However, despite knowing about
the dangers of this field, I have not
been put off – and neither should
other people of my age. I believe that,
while there is always an element of risk
involved in activism, as long as there
degree after are those fighting to change things for
a gap year the better, change is possible, and it is
working, and important that we all remember this.
I have a keen Daunting it may be, but there are
interest and always people needed on the front
passion for line of conservation.
conservation Though the statistics are shocking,
and activism. they should not make anyone hesitant
The prospect to follow their passion. With enough
of pursuing people and hard work conservation
such a brings about wonderful success stories –
potentially let that be our primary motivation. If
dangerous we can manage to retain hope, we will
career, however, be able to change those numbers.
is daunting. Anya Foxworthy-Bowers, via e-mail
Pett Level in East Sussex. The Debating wildcats
area encourages breadth of I admire the enthusiasm of
vision with views of low, flat Pete Cooper and Derek Gow
marshland dissected by the for reintroducing species such
historic Royal Military Canal, as the beaver and wildcat to
but a flash of yellow suddenly our countryside (Should we
focused my attention on a wasp bring back the wildcats of
spider by the side of the path. olde England? August 2018).
To get my shot I had to gently However, what concerns me is
move several blades of grass his question: “If we don’t try
and lie on my front, waiting for now, then when?”
lulls in the stiff breeze with my Rushing into reintroductions
elbows serving as a tripod. now ignores the implications
Andy Jenner, via Twitter message of the species spreading into
the wider countryside. What
Features editor Ben Hoare replies: happens to the animals’
These are fabulous spiders, aren’t offspring once they spread
they? They colonised England as to neighbouring land and
long ago as the 1920s, but beyond? We talk a lot
only recently have they about connectivity
spread along the and habitat
south coast and fragmentation;
north into the we need more
Midlands, likely evidence that
due to climate we can provide
change. this, especially
A female
wasp spider.
for reintroductions. If we get
it wrong, it is the animals who
will suffer for it.
Phil Maund, Isles of Scilly
Pete Cooper replies: continental
experience shows wildcats are on
the increase – even in fragmented,
populated landscapes – and we
now have as much woodland cover
as we did in 1750 when wildcats
were still found throughout
England and Wales. However,
good woodland habitat that's
connected is still ideal. If an
English/Welsh release was to go
ahead, careful modelling would
need to be done to establish the
best linked-up areas of natural
habitat. The wildcat can be a
flagship animal to drive creation
of such corridors, as in the 'wildcat
leap' project in Germany.
Positive news
I have often thought that
perhaps conservation is
all ‘doom and gloom’, and
that conservationists can
occasionally be guilty of
sensationalism to make things
appear worse than they are. I
must admit that your magazine,
to which I subscribe more to
learn about and be wowed by
wildlife than to hear about its
plight, often strikes a similar
tone which can leave you feeling
discouraged about the state of
our planet, although I've come
to appreciate that this is just the
reality of how things are.
I think it’s worth pointing
out, though, that many issues
are something of a double
edged sword, that can either be
viewed positively or negatively.
For example, in the brilliant
article by Marianne Taylor on
the hooded grebes of Patagonia
(Tango in Patagonia, August
2018), it was mentioned that
the prospect of building a
October 2018