Wild animals in circuses to be banned in Wales under new law

Plans to ban the use of wild animals in travelling circuses in Wales are moving a step closer.

New legislation, bringing Wales in line with Scotland, will be introduced to the assembly on Monday.

Welsh Government rural affairs minister Lesley Griffiths said wild animals should be "treated with respect".

Her proposals have been welcomed by the RSPCA but a man described as Britain's last lion tamer, Thomas Chipperfield, said the new law was "illiberal".

The Welsh Government said the new law was "overwhelmingly backed" in a recent consultation which had more than 6,500 responses.

There are now only two circuses, which regularly visit Wales, travelling the UK with wild animals.

Similar laws have been passed in Scotland and the Republic of Ireland, while legislation to outlaw the practice in England is currently passing through Parliament.

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Most of countryside now devoid of hedgehogs, study finds

Something ‘fundamentally wrong’ in rural landscape, scientists say, with numbers thought to have fallen 80% since 1950s

Damian Carrington Environment editor

Thu 6 Sep 2018 14.00 BSTLast modified on Thu 6 Sep 2018 19.35 BST

A “perfect storm” of intensive farming and rising badger populations has left most of the countryside in England and Wales devoid of hedgehogs, according to the first systematic national survey.

The research used footprints left by hedgehogs in special tunnels to reveal that they were living at just 20% of the 261 sites surveyed. Hedgehogs, which topped a vote in 2013 to nominate a national species for Britain, were significantly less common where badgers were more numerous. Badgers eat hedgehogs and also compete for the beetles and worms the prickly animals consume.

However, hedgehogs and badgers lived alongside each other in half the hedgehog sites, while a quarter of all the sites had neither animal, showing the destruction of habitat such as hedgerows and coppices was also a major factor.

 “There are lots of areas in the countryside that are not suitable for hedgehogs or badgers,” said Ben Williams, at the University of Reading, who led the new work. “There is something fundamentally wrong in the rural landscape for those species and probably lots of other species as well,” such as birds and shrews.

Previous work based on visual sightings and roadkills indicated that the number of hedgehogs living in the British countryside has plummeted by more than half since 2000. Historical hedgehog numbers are hard to estimate, but scientists think populations have fallen by at least 80% since the 1950s.

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Water vole areas in England and Wales fall by 30% in a decade

Species remains UK’s fastest declining mammal despite large reintroduction programme

Haroon Siddique

Mon 26 Feb 2018 00.01 GMT

The number of areas where water voles are found across England and Wales has fallen by almost a third in 10 years, research has found.

The species, which provided the model for the much-loved character Ratty in The Wind of the Willows, has suffered catastrophic declines over several decades and is the UK’s fastest declining mammal.

Habitat loss, water pollution and the introduction of American mink – originally farmed for their fur, but which escaped into the wild and proved a voracious predator – have all contributed to the slump in the number of voles.

Analysis led by the Wildlife Trusts found a decline of 30% in the areas where they live between 2006 and 2015. A slight increase in their distribution was recorded in the last few years, thanks to conservation efforts by wildlife groups – the biggest reintroduction of water voles in the UK began last year – but the situation remains bleak.

Ellie Brodie, the senior policy officer for the Wildlife Trusts, said: “Water voles are an essential part of our wild and watery places and it’s terribly sad that we’re continuing to witness huge declines of this much-loved mammal.

“The Wildlife Trusts and others are working hard to help bring them back again and care for the places they need to survive – but much more is needed if we’re going to stop this charismatic creature disappearing altogether.”

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Two men jailed for badger-baiting in Wales

Huntsman David Thomas sentenced to 22 weeks and accomplice to 20 in case RSPCA says shows animal cruelty is rife

Steven Morris

Mon 5 Feb 2018 17.45 GMTFirst published on Mon 5 Feb 2018 16.34 GMT

An experienced huntsman has been jailed after being caught badger-baiting on remote farmland in north Wales. RSPCA inspectors and police also found two foxes in a cage next to a pack of dogs on the farm, a meeting place for the Dwyryd Hunt, and believe they were going to be released for dogs to attack.

The RSPCA said the case showed that badger-baiting, which has been banned since 1835, and other forms of animal cruelty were still rife.

Some animal campaigners claim it also suggests the government’s badger cull has caused the mammals to become “demonised” and led to an increase in cruelty towards them.

Speaking after the sentencing, Ch Insp Ian Briggs, from the RSPCA’s special operations unit, said: “This was a major and landmark investigation in which the RSPCA caught individuals red-handed in the act of using their dogs to barbarically fight with a badger.

“Badger-baiting has been illegal for over 180 years and it is sickening to find people still seeking to spend their time inflicting pain, suffering and misery on animals in this way. This was coordinated and carefully planned cruelty.”

He added: “Badger persecution is rife across the country. There are numerous gangs out to target badgers. The badger is seen as the most worthy opponent, the biggest test for their dogs. But the people involved in this sort of activity just like killing things.

“It’s extremely difficult to detect. These people are going out into secluded woodlands, sometimes on to farmland with permission of the owner, which makes it extremely difficult to investigate.”

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Call to conserve 'crucial' rare Wales spider species

 27 October 2017

Action is needed to conserve Wales' rare spider species, including those which only live underground, a review has found.

Some of the 500 species of spiders that live in Wales are found almost nowhere else in the world, according to Natural Resources Wales (NRW).

They include cave spiders found in two places in south Wales and sand running spiders on beaches and sand dunes.

NRW said spiders were "crucial" to the environment.

The review, conducted by NRW in conjunction with the British Arachnological Society, found there were 654 different species of spider in the UK - with almost 500 found in Wales.

Of those, 18 species were critically endangered, with 84 species being endangered or vulnerable in Britain.

They include:

The sand running spider, which is a master of camouflage, found at three locations in Wales, including sand dunes at Morfa Harlech in Gwynedd

The cave dwelling spider, found at only two locations in south Wales, which spends its entire life underground

The fen raft spider, found at Pant y Sais National Nature Reserve and Crymlyn Bog, Swansea - it is one of Britain's largest spiders, with females measuring 13-22mm and males 10-16mm

Rhodri Dafydd, senior reserve manager for NRW, said of the sand running spider: "They're a fantastic looking thing. They're one of the most camouflaged spiders we've got, it looks exactly like a piece of sand so we have our work cut out looking for it.

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Mystery of octopuses found crawling along Welsh beach

Up to 25 of the cephalopods end up on dry land, possibly confused or injured by the recent storms

Monday 30 October 2017 03.51 GMTLast modified on Monday 30 October 2017 22.00 GMT

Dozens of octopus have been spotted emerging from the ocean and crawling along the Welsh coast in a nightly pilgrimage that has perplexed people at a seaside town.

Up to 25 curled octopuses, which grow to a length of 50cm, were seen three nights in a row at New Quay beach in Ceredigion in west Wales. Some of the wayward cephalopods were later found dead, washed up on the beach.

Brett Jones, who runs SeaMôr dolphin-watching boat trips, said he first witnessed the phenomenon when he was returning from a sunset trip.

“It was a bit like an End Of Days scenario,” he told the BBC. “There were probably about 20 or 25 on the beach. I have never seen them out of the water like that.”

He said it was “really rare” for the creatures to end up on dry land, adding: “Maybe they are getting confused by the bright lights in New Quay harbour and maybe they are dying off after summer or getting knackered after the recent storms.”

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Man-of-war spotted along coast in Cornwall and Wales

12 September 2017

Large numbers of potentially fatal Portuguese man-of-war have washed up on a Cornish beach, prompting its closure.

RNLI lifeguards erected do not swim red flags at Perranporth beach earlier because of the "unusually large number" of the creatures.

The jellyfish-like organisms, which have long purple tentacles, have also been seen in Wales this month, says the Marine Conservation Society (MCS).

With mild sea temperatures of 16C there were fears of swimmers being stung.

The RNLI said it placed red flags at Perranporth beach between 10:00 and 13:30 BST to signal that the water was out of bounds, while lifeguards took advice on the level of danger to beachgoers.

More on the man-of-war sightings and other stories from Cornwall

Man-of-war were spotted at Newgale, Pembrokeshire, on 8 September and the next day on beaches near the holiday destination of Newquay.

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Red squirrels: 5,000 volunteers sought to save species – and help kill invasive greys

Wildlife Trusts’ biggest-ever recruitment drive will see volunteers monitor populations, educate children – and bludgeon grey squirrels to death

Patrick Barkham

Friday 24 February 2017 06.01 GMT 

An army of 5,000 volunteers is being sought to save the red squirrel from extinction by monitoring populations, educating children – and bludgeoning grey squirrels to death.

The Wildlife Trusts’ biggest-ever recruitment drive is focused on areas of northern England, north Wales and Northern Ireland where invasive grey squirrels first introduced by the Victorians are driving the retreating red squirrel population to extinction.

More than 2.5 million grey squirrels are continuing to spread north through England and into Scotland, out-competing the 140,000 remaining red squirrels and spreading the squirrelpox virus, which does not affect greys but rapidly kills reds. 

“In most of the UK there are only a handful of refuges left for red squirrels,” said Dr Cathleen Thomas, programme manager of Red Squirrel United, a conservation partnership started in 2015. “Without help, experts predict this beautiful and treasured creature could be extinct within as little as 35 years.”

Volunteers for Red Squirrel United will be asked to monitor red squirrel strongholds in Northumberland, Merseyside, Wales and Northern Ireland, and report any grey squirrels entering these areas. Volunteers will set up camera traps to film squirrel behaviour and teach the public and school children about the way in which greys have rapidly driven the reds to extinction across southern Britain since 1945.

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Bee swarm clinging to car boot has Welsh town abuzz

Park ranger and beekeepers help remove thousands of bees after queen was thought trapped in back of a car in Haverfordwest

Press Association

Tuesday 24 May 201617.37 BST

Last modified on Wednesday 25 May 201609.57 BST

Thousands of bees left a town buzzing after swarming on to the boot of a car.

The insects are believed to have swarmed on to the back of a silver Mitsubishi Outlander after their queen got stuck in its boot.

Tom Moses, a ranger at the Pembrokeshire coast national park, noticed a “brown splodge” on the back of the car after the owner parked it in Haverfordwest to do some shopping. When he looked closer, he realised it was a swarm of bees – thought to number more than 10,000.

Moses, 41, said: “I have never seen that many bees in one spot. It was very unusual and then you go and take a closer look, it is quite spectacular.

 “They were packed in quite tight and covered a couple of square feet. There was a lot of buzzing and moving.

“It was interesting to see such a natural phenomenon but there were a lot of people around and I was a bit worried of the bees and the people passing by, their children stopping to look at it. It was the middle of a town and outside a pub. I thought that someone might do something stupid.”

Read on … 

The place that has wiped out grey squirrels

26 October 2015

The red squirrel has been in severe decline in the UK but one island has completely eliminated grey squirrels to promote a red resurgence. Could it lead to a wider programme of eradication, asks Rachel Argyle.

Once common, red squirrels have declined rapidly in the UK since the 1950s, falling in numbers from about 3.5 million, to a current estimated population of around 130,000.

Anglesey, an island off the north-west coast of Wales, declared itself a grey squirrel-free zone earlier this year after an 18-year cull.

Now, it's been announced that a share of £1.2m of Heritage Lottery Fund money will see the cull of grey squirrels extend to the neighbouring county of Gwynedd, where no native nutkins have been spotted for nearly 70 years.

Grey squirrels, said to have been brought to Britain from the US in the 19th Century, crossed the Menai Strait between Anglesey and mainland Wales in the mid-1960s. By 1998 the species had replaced the red squirrel almost completely, with only 40 red squirrels remaining.

It's long been believed that greys act as carriers of squirrel pox - which kills reds.

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Big cat circus show attracts few people in Wales

The first night of a new circus-style show featuring three tigers and two lions in Welshpool, Wales on 3rd July, attracted just 22 people; proving that most people voted with their feet and stayed away, The Born Free Foundation has said.

The Daily Post North Wales have also reported thousands have signed an online petition, organised by animal rights campaign group Animal Defenders International, to have the show stopped when it comes to Wrexam July 17-26. 

Run by Thomas Chipperfield, ‘An Evening with Lions and Tigers’ featured a 30-minute performance in which the big cats undertook a series of circus-style manoeuvres such as rolling over, laying down and jumping through hoops. Afterwards, Chipperfield fielded questions from the meagre audience, and then took them outside to watch the animals being fed.

Marilyn Chipperfield, the mother of Thomas Chipperfield who runs the show, told the Daily Post North Wales: “The signatures on the petition come from supporters of ADI all over the world and it is our belief that many of them are multiple signings so in reality there are not thousands against the show.

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Lions and tigers to feature in Welsh circus

A new circus show featuring big cats has established itself in Wales, with the next show planned to run from 3rd July to Sunday 12th July in Welshpool, Powys. Posters describe the show as “educational” with feeding and “training displays”.

The five big cats, three tigers and two lions, belong to Thomas Chipperfield and are the same animals that were used in Peter Jolly’s circus last year. When Chipperfield left England at the end of the 2014 circus touring season, he moved the cats to Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire. The presence of the big cats in Scotland caused controversy over the winter and led to calls for an outright ban on wild animal circuses. Attempts were made by Chipperfield to stage shows in Scotland but they were thwarted, according toreports in press, by the trainer’s failure to be granted the correct permissions.

Said Adam Roberts, CEO of the Born Free Foundation said: “In the last two years, the big cats in question have been hauled around the whole of the UK and Ireland for the sole purpose of performing outdated circus tricks for paying audiences. In 2010, 95% of respondents to the UK Government consultation on this issue demanded a ban.

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Is there a big cat on the loose in Wales? Puma blamed for mystery lamb death

BY HYWEL TREWYN

A lamb has been killed by 'unknown predator' while a radio crew are making a documentary about big cat sightings in the area

Farmers have expressed concerns that a puma is on the loose following the discovery of a dead lamb - in WALES.

Dafydd and Pam Parry claim to have seen pumas, a type of jungle cat, in the hills around their Snowdonia home.

They have taken plaster casts of paw prints which they believe have been left by the animals and graphic photographs of sheep and badgers which they believe were killed by large cats.

Pam, of Hafod y Llyn Isaf, claims to have seen "a big black puma" with "golden eyes and a long tail, curved up" sitting on rocks watching her feeding her horses.

A BBC radio crew have now followed up the Parrys claims, for documentary The Unexplainers led by John Rutledge, also know as Eggsy from rappers Goldie Lookin' Chain.

Producer Rhys Waters told the Daily Post: "We were looking at the big cat rumours that were in the area, and the night we did a stakeout a lamb was killed by an unknown predator."

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Sir David Attenborough finally has a living species named after him in the UK

He’s been one of Britain’s best loved naturalists for more than 70 years.

But it’s only now that Sir David Attenborough has been bestowed with the honour of having his first living species native to the UK named after him.

The presenter, 88, has lent his moniker to a new wild flower called The Attenborough’s hawkweed, or ‘Hieracium attenboroughianum’.

It was discovered over a decade ago in the Brecon Beacons in south Wales. However, it took 10 years for scientists to decipher whether or not it was actually new.

First found on a rocky ledge on Cribyn, its closest relative is the daisy.

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Freezing chimps wear blankets as boiler breaks

Bosses at Wales Ape and Monkey Sanctuary give animals throws to keep them warm while biomass boiler is repaired

By Agency

3:03PM GMT 29 Dec 2014

Chimps were left shivering in blankets after their boiler packed in during the freezing weather.

Photo: Wales News Service

Bosses at an animal centre near Swansea gave them the throws in a bid to keep them warm after the heaters broke down.

The monkeys felt the arctic chill as they waited for the £115,000 biomass boiler to be repaired.

So keepers at the Wales Ape and Monkey Sanctuary, in Abercrave, gave them blankets.

Graham Garen, who runs the centre, said: "Warmth is key for the animals. They might get flu or pneumonia otherwise.

"We've had to give them blankets to keep them warm while we wait for the boiler to be fixed."

The chimps have been feeling the cold since Christmas Day, when the pellet-powered boiler broke.

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Crackdown on fish poaching in Wales nets 139 arrests

14 August 2014 Last updated at 18:09

A crackdown on fish poaching across Wales has seen 139 people prosecuted in the first four months of the year, says Natural Resources Wales (NRW).

The legal action has seen those involved fined £18,000 in total.

On Tuesday two men were the latest arrests for illegal fishing, after being found on a dinghy with a net on the River Usk in Monmouthshire.

But officials say the issue is a problem across Wales, and threatens an angling industry worth £150m a year.

Since the start of the year, individuals have been caught fishing illegally or poaching from the Loughor estuary in west Wales to the Menai Strait in Gwynedd and the River Dee in Flintshire.

NRW said its biggest concern was "foul hooking", which involves dragging hooks through the water at high speed in an attempt to impale fish.

Tourism 'draw'

This often leaves more fish damaged and dying in the river than are brought to shore, a spokesperson said.

The fish most threatened are wild salmon and sea trout.

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Jellyfish set for record number of sightings

22 July 2014 Last updated at 13:00

Wales has been hailed as a jellyfish "hotspot" by researchers who say they could hit record numbers this summer.

Mild winters and warm summers have led to more sightings in recent years, the Marine Conservation Society claimed.

Harlech was a haven for barrel jellyfish, with the lion's mane jellyfish being seen off north Wales.

The findings come in what is claimed to be the first UK-wide survey of jellyfish in more than 40 years.

Jellyfish had a major economic impact through their effect on tourism and fish stocks, and gave a guide to the state of the planet, the MCS said.

MCS biodiversity programme manager Dr Peter Richardson said Wales was one of the most rewarding parts of the UK for jellyfish study, with more reports and more species.

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Dolphin attacks on Cardigan Bay porpoises baffle experts

14 July 2014 Last updated at 10:06

Dolphin attacks on porpoises in Cardigan Bay have left marine scientists scratching their heads.

Three out of four attacks by bottlenose dolphins noted in recent weeks by volunteers from New Quay-based Cardigan Bay Marine Wildlife Centre were fatal.

Science officer Sarah Perry said such attacks are not unknown but it was rare to see it happening in Cardigan Bay.

The centre suggested the attacks may be over competition for food or the result of dolphin mating behaviour.

It said scientists have always known that dolphins attack porpoises but the frequency of recent attacks is a real puzzle.

In May, volunteers at the centre (CBMWC) in Ceredigion rescued a porpoise that stranded on the beach after being chased by dolphins.

Last month researchers saw three dolphins killing a porpoise, with another similar incident a week later.

Then last week three dolphins spent 20 minutes attacking a porpoise close to the centre's research vessel Anna Lloyd.

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