r/megafaunarewilding

The Amazon River Dolphin Foundation shared this video of the endangered species that inhabits the freshwater rivers of the South American Amazon

It’s earth day! We all talk so much about all the sadness and doom and gloom that faces the natural world, it’s refreshing to discuss the victories that we do have! And what better day to do that than on Earth Day? So, let us come together as lovers of rewilding, and celebrate what we love so much, before we return to the typical day to day debates and controversies.

The photo above was taken by me during my trip to Alberta last summer. I’m no professional photographer but I still like this picture. Just makes me smile seeing the baby mountain goat with its mother and I hope it makes you smile too!😊

Quote from the Email sent to me:

“H.R. 1897 would strip away the core safeguards of the Endangered Species Act by:

Slowing protections for plants and wildlife already in crisis by replacing the current one-year deadline for listing decisions with a multi-year work plan, potentially delaying decisions for years while populations continue declining.

Limiting critical habitat protections to places species occupy today, which ignores the reality that wildlife need room to recover and move as the climate changes.

Weakening how science is utilized in decision-making by narrowing how long-term threats are evaluated and giving greater weight to political and local data over independent scientific expertise. It would also eliminate meaningful mitigation for habitat destruction, making it much harder to prevent projects from pushing species closer to extinction.

Reducing environmental review for projects that harm endangered wildlife and states to choose whether they adopt federal protections for threatened species. That would create a patchwork of inconsistent protections for animals that cross state lines and depend on connected landscapes to survive.

At a time when wildlife faces accelerating habitat loss, drought, development, and climate change, this bill moves us in the wrong direction.”

If we aren’t gonna use force to make change, we might as well use our voices. I pray I am not yet again disappointed by a lack of action. The link for the petition is below:

https://action.wildearthguardians.org/page/96592/action/1?ea.url.id=4879888&forwarded=true

To some, this will sound obvious, but I've noticed a fair few people act like lobbyists, corpo-aristocrats and old money aren't the biggest threat to rewilding in Britain. Often (big shock), you'll find they've been caught up in propaganda espoused by said groups, so here's a fairly comprehensive list of the biggest landowners in the country. Take note of all those who aren't part of the UK government, the NT or conservation charities.

Source: The Land Is Ours https://share.google/qRKSCoWtutqwWNvZj

*Bears illustrations by Marckz*

The Americas are, and have always been, home to a vast variety of ursid species. Following the Quaternary extinction, four species remained across both subcontinents: three in North America and one in South America. This makes the Americas the region with the second-highest number of bear species, surpassed only by Asia, which hosts eight. Much like in Asia, these species are divided into two subfamilies: Ursinae and Tremarctinae. Furthermore, the continent claims both extremes: the Polar bear as the northernmost species and the Andean bear as the southernmost.

Historically, these bears were incredibly widespread. Even during the era of European conquest, Brown and Black bears were ubiquitous across North America. Records also indicate that the Spectacled (Andean) bear was once very common in South America. A prime example is "Santa Rosa de Osos"—literally translated as Saint Rose of Bears—located in the northern Andes. This plateau was discovered by the Spanish colonist Francisco Vallejo in 1541, who initially named it the "Valley of Bears" due to the massive presence of Andean bears roaming the highlands. At that time, the Brown bear’s range extended from Alaska down to Northern Mexico, while the American Black bear occupied nearly all of North America.

In modern times, all of them have suffered from habitat loss and a drastic reduction in their distribution. The Brown bear has vanished from nearly 98% of its range in the contiguous United States and went extinct in Mexico in 1964. The American Black bear has lost 20% of its range, with some local populations, such as those in Mexico, being highly threatened. Due to melting sea ice, the Polar bear faces increasing fragmentation, with an estimated habitat loss of 30% by 2050. Most critically, the Andean bear has lost 95% of its entire natural habitat. Currently, the most vulnerable bears on the continent are the Polar bear, the Andean bear, and the Mexican populations of the American Black bear.

https://xcancel.com/i/status/2045624765839221037

Credit: Gaurav Ramnarayanan

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/where-did-aurochs-live

https://www.medieval.eu/return-of-the-mighty-beast-the-aurochs/amp/

https://myaurochs.com/blogs/news/a-brief-history-of-aurochs/

I decided to go on wiki and look up images of all 1000 cattle breeds so here are the breeds that most resemble and are possibly the most genetically similar to the aurochs in my opinion. Some of you are more educated on this topic than me. So here are the breeds

1. ⁠White Caceres , 2. White Lamphun , 3.Thai Fighting Bull , 4. Sanhe , 5. Retina , 6. Parda Alpina , 7. Podolica , 8. Murciana- Levantina , 9. Madagascar Zebu , 10. Karan Swiss , 11. Greek Steppe , 12. Guadali , 13. Dolafe , 14. Casteno Con Cuernos , 15. Cardena Andaluza, 16. Canaria , 17. Caldelana , 18. Andalusian Blond , 19. Andalusian Black , 20. Andalusian Grey , 21. Arsi , 22. Avilena - Black Iberian , 23. Azaouak, 24. Azerbaijan Zebu , 25. Aceh , 26. Accham , 27 Adamawa , 28. Agerolese, 29. Alambadi, 30. Alistana- Sanabresa , 31. White Park , 32. Brava , 33. Dajal , 34. Horro, 35. Indu-Brasil , 36. Kalmyk, 37. Limia, 38. Marinhoa, 39. Mewati, 40. Mirandesa , 41. Pantaneiro, 42. Pulikulam, 43. Ratisches Grauvieh , 44. RED Sindhi, 45. Sibi Bhagnari, 46. Javari, 47. Guzerat , 48. Old Gloucester , 49. Glan, 50. Glamorgan, 51. Gyr, 52. Aleutian Islands Cattle , 53. Gasconne , 54. English Longhorn , 55. Gaolao, 56. Gangatiri, 57. Rubia Gallega, 58. Dolafe, 59. Dexter , 60. Deoni , 61. Boran , 62. Betizu, 63. Berrenda, 64. Bretonne Pie Noir , 65. Camargue , 66. Canadienne, 67. Caracu, 68. Chianina, 69. Chillingham , 70. Cholistani , 71. Cika , 72. Corsican , 73. Aure Et Saint - Girans , 74. Aubrac, 75. Asturian Valley , 76. Asturian Mountain Cattle , 77. Arouquesa, 78. Amrit Mahal , 79. American Milking Devon , 80. Alentejana, 81. Albera , 82. Alambadi, 83. Accham, 84. Abondance, 85. Abergele, 86. Florida Cracker , 87. Hallikar, 88. Hariana, 89. Harzer Rotvieh, 90. Herens, 91. Hinterwald, 92. Boskarin, 93. Kankrej , 94. Kathiawadi, 95. Butana and Kerana, 96. Kenkatha , 97. Kherigarh, 98. Krishna Valley , 99. Limiana, 100. Limousin, 101. Lohani, 102. Lourdaise, 103. Evolene, 104. Malvi , 105. Malnad Gidda, 106. Maraichine, 107. Maronesa, 108. Mertolenga, 109. Mewati, 110. Minhota , 111. Mirandesa, 112. Monchina, 113. Murnau-werdenfels, 114. Nagori, 115. N’Dama , 116. Nguni, 117. Nimari, 118. Pajuna , 119. Palmera, 120 pantaneiro, 121 pirenaica, 122. Podolica, 123. Ponwar, 124. Punggnur, 125. Pulikulam, 126. Pustertaler Sprinzen , 127. Ramo Grande , 128. Randall Lineback , 129. Raramuri Criollo , 130. Rathi , 131. Ratisches Grauvieh, 132. Red Khandhari, 133. Romagnola, 134. Ongole , 135. Sahiwal, 136. Sibi Bhagnari, 137. Salers, 138. Siri , 139. Tarentaise, 140. Telemarkfe, 141. Tharparkar, 142. Umblachery, 143. Spanish Fighting Bull , 144. Sayaguesa , 145. Maronesa , 146. Limia , 147. Podolica , 148. Pajuna , 149. Zebu , 150. Primitivo , 151. Guzerat , 152. Heck , 153. Criollo , 154. Tudanca , 155. Chianina , 156. Chillingham , 157. Corriente , 158. Lidia , 159. Jallikattu , and 160. Vianesa

I did a lot of research looking at images of all the different cattle breeds that I could find to see which most looked similar to or most built like the Aurochs. I apologize if any are listed more than once. As you see it was a lot.

The reason behind my question is that I recently saw footage of all of these animals in Forest Tale (Лесная быль,1949) and Forest Symphony (Лесная симфония,1967) wich both were filmed in the reserve according to the reserve website.

However nowadays the bear, cappercaillie, black groose and willow ptarmigan ranges don't go as much south and there are no records of them or no mentions of them even in regions nearby.

So did they went extinct in that region (which is located in the East European forest steppe) ? And if yes, is it because of over hunting or because of climate change that made that region less suitable for them ?