Neonicotinoid pesticides blamed for bee deaths are to be banned across Europe after an EU vote which took place today.

Honey bees are vital pollinators, but are in decline

Wild species such as honey bees are believed to be responsible for the pollination of around a third of the world’s crops, and contribute billions of dollars each year to the global economy. However, there has been widespread concern about their rapid decline, which has been blamed on a number of factors, including habitat loss, disease and the use of insecticides.

Neonicotinoids are nicotine-like chemicals which are toxic to insects and which have been widely used as pesticides for more than a decade. They are usually applied to seeds, and are taken up by all parts of the growing plant, including its pollen and nectar.

Although less harmful than some of the pesticides they replaced, neonicotinoids have been blamed for contributing to bee declines, with a number of studies showing harmful effects on bee behaviour and survival. The combined effects of more than one pesticide have also been shown to put bumblebee colonies at risk.

Pesticides have also been shown to have negative effects on bumblebees

However, many farmers and chemical companies argue that the science is inconclusive and the studies do not necessarily reflect field conditions, and that a ban on these pesticides would harm food production.

Intense lobbying

There has been intense lobbying by both sides in the run-up to today’s vote, with nearly 3 million signatures collected in support of a ban, and campaigners rallying in London last Friday to call for action.

Some countries, including Germany, Italy and France, have already put restrictions on neonicotinoids, while some UK retailers have taken action by removing them from their shelves and supply chains.

A previous vote by the EU on whether to ban the chemicals was inconclusive, so the European Commission went to an appeals committee. Fifteen countries have now voted in favour of a ban, while eight voted against, including the UK, and four abstained. Although not a large majority, this was enough for the Commission to put in place a two-year ban on neonicotinoids.

Other threats to bees include habitat loss and disease

After the vote, the EU Health Commissioner Tonio Borg said, “I pledge to do my utmost to ensure that our bees, which are so vital to our ecosystem and contribute over 22 billion Euros ($29 billion) annually to European agriculture, are protected.”

More to be done for bees

Speaking about the vote, Andrew Pendleton of Friends of the Earth said, “This decision is a significant victory for common sense and our beleaguered bee populations. Restricting the use of these pesticides could be an historic milestone on the road to recovery for these crucial pollinators.”

The new ban will prohibit the sale and use of seeds treated with neonicotinoids, and will also prohibit the sale of these chemicals to amateur growers. However, it will not apply to crops that are non-attractive to bees, or to crops that are grown over winter.

Some have warned that the ban could lead to the return of older, more harmful pesticides. However, supporters say that this has not happened in countries that have already banned the chemicals, and that the use of more natural methods of pest control can tackle any problems.

Bees are estimated to be worth billions of dollars to the global economy

“Few people would disagree that we need to protect our food production, but it shouldn’t be at the cost of damaging the environment. Indeed, there are several alternatives to using neonicotinoids, and other pesticides, and this a great opportunity for farmers to adopt these practices to protect bees and other pollinators,” said Professor Simon Potts, a scientist at the University of Reading.

“A short-term decision to keep using harmful products may be convenient, but will almost certainly have much greater long-term costs for food production and the environment,” he said.

Although the ban is good news for bees, these important pollinators still face a number of other threats, and more still needs to be done to protect them. A monitoring programme will also be needed to assess the effects of the two-year ban on bees and other pollinating insects.

Read more on this story at BBC News – Bee deaths: EU to ban neonicotinoid pesticides and The Guardian – Bee-harming pesticides banned in Europe.

View photos and videos of bees on ARKive.

Liz Shaw, ARKive Text Author

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After a 300-year absence, the European bison is once again freely roaming the forests of Germany.

In 1927, no European bison remained in the wild, with just 54 captive individuals being found in zoos

A welcome return to the wild

A small herd of European bison has been released in Germany, marking the first time in over 300 years that this species has roamed the country’s wilderness. Once widespread across Europe and northern Asia, the European bison, also known as the wisent, underwent a dramatic population decline as a result of large-scale deforestation and hunting. By the 1920s, the species was extinct in the wild, and only 54 captive individuals remained.

Reintroduction programmes began in the 1950s, and since then the European bison has successfully been released in forests in ten countries, including Belarus, Poland, Russia, Lithuania, the Ukraine and Slovakia. However, Germany has this month become the first western European nation to see the bison return to its borders.

The European bison is classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List

Unhindered herd

For the last three years, the small herd of just eight bison has been held within a 220 acre pen. Researchers have been monitoring the group, which comprises one male, five females and two calves, and have conducted several studies relating to the animals’ release.

Experts have deemed that the bison pose no danger to humans, and so the decision was made to allow the herd to roam unhindered in the Rothaar Mountains of North Rhine-Westphalia. Officials took down the fence earlier this month, enabling the bison to enter Germany’s forests, and it is hoped that the small herd will grow in number to include around 25 individuals. Two of the bison have been fitted with radio transmitters so that scientists can track and monitor them.

Once extinct in the wild, there are now 1,800 European bison roaming free in Europe

Successful reintroductions

An interesting reintroduction study is currently being conducted in Pleistocene Park, a protected area in northern Siberia. Researchers are investigating the effects of returning bison and other large native animals to the region, to see if the area is returned to the steppe ecosystem which was present during the Pleistocene epoch.

Reintroduction of the European bison within its historic range has so far proved successful, with an impressive 1,800 individuals now roaming the wild, all of which have stemmed from the 54 captive individuals.

Read more on this story at Mongabay.com – Bison return to Germany after 300 year absence.

View photos and videos of European bison on ARKive.

Kathryn Pintus, ARKive Text Author

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Masked men have raided a storeroom in the National Museum of Ireland and stolen four rhino heads believed to be worth a total of £430,000 on the black market.

The black rhino is classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List

Night-time raid

Police have revealed that the lone security guard on duty Wednesday night at the museum’s storeroom in Swords, north of Dublin, was tied up by three masked men who broke into the building. The security guard later managed to free himself and raise the alarm.

During the raid, the thieves managed to escape with the heads of three black rhinos from Kenya, as well as one from a northern white rhino, a subspecies on the very brink of extinction. The horned mammals had all been killed more than a century ago and, until recently, had been on public display at the museum itself. The rhino heads, each of which sports two valuable horns, had been removed from the exhibit last year and placed in storage, in order to protect them from being targeted by thieves.

In 2006, as few as four northern white rhinos were thought to exist in the wild

Powdered horn

Nigel Monaghan, keeper at the museum’s Natural History section, has said that, based on their weight, the eight horns could be worth up to £430,000 on the black market. Despite being made of keratin, the same fibrous protein that makes up our own hair and nails, and having no documented medicinal value, rhino horn is highly prized in traditional Asian medicine.

In countries such as China and Viet Nam, powdered rhino horn is marketed as being an aphrodisiac and a cure for serious diseases, including cancer. As a result, rhino horn is considered to be extremely valuable, and its illegal trade has led to three of the five rhino species in Africa and South Asia being classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Read more on this story at The Guardian – Rhino heads seized in gang raid on Ireland’s national museum.

View photos and videos of rhino species on ARKive.

Kathryn Pintus, ARKive Text Author

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A Chinese vessel which crashed into a coral reef in the protected Tubbataha marine park in the Philippines has been found to contain 400 boxes of frozen pangolin meat. 

The illegal trade in pangolins is driven largely by demand for their meat and scales in China

On the 8th April, a Chinese ‘fishing vessel’ illegally entered Filipino seas and crashed straight into a protected coral reef. Upon re-inspection of the boat, the coastguard discovered its sickening cargo: 400 boxes containing over 10 tonnes of pangolin meat. The scales and meat of this insect-eating mammal are in high demand in China; its meat is regarded a delicacy and its scales are believed to have properties that are beneficial to breast-feeding mothers.

Pangolin demand

Illegal trade in pangolins has all but wiped out populations across China, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, and hunters are now infesting its very last remaining habitats in Java, Sumatra and the Malaysian peninsula. As pangolin species become rarer, the demand for their meat and scales increases, as does their price, despite the fact that there is absolutely no evidence for the touted medicinal properties of their scales.

“It is bad enough that the Chinese have illegally entered our seas, navigated without boat papers and crashed recklessly into a national marine park and World Heritage Site,” said head of WWF-Philippines, Jose Ma. Lorenzo Tan. “It is simply deplorable that they appear to be posing as fishermen to trade in illegal wildlife.”

The Endangered Sunda pangolin is heavily hunted within its range

The crew of the boat have been arrested for poaching and attempted bribery, potentially facing 12 years in prison and $300,000 (£196,000) in fines. Posing as fishermen, the men claimed to have accidentally sailed into Philippine waters on their way from Malaysia. It is possible that they will face further charges for possession of pangolin meat, for which they can be fined and imprisoned for up to six years, and for damaging a coral reef.

The species of pangolin contained within the shipment are not yet known, but of the species listed on the IUCN Red List of threatened species, the majority are classified as Near Threatened or Endangered.

Chris Shepherd of the wildlife trade group TRAFFIC said, “There is no way a slow-breeding species like the pangolin can withstand this huge pressure for long.”

Hunting is the main threat to the Chinese pangolin, which is now extremely rare in many countries within its range

Crackdown not enough

Law enforcement has so far been unable to significantly reduce the trade in pangolin meat and scales, which is forcefully driven by the extremely high prices they fetch in China, with hunters being paid hundreds of dollars per kilogram.

“We have seen a really obscene amount of seizures but very few people are arrested and even fewer convicted”, Shepherd continued. “There is not enough investigation into who is behind the networks.”

Investigation is needed into who is behind the trade networks

The seizure is among the biggest on record, with other large finds including the 23 tonnes of frozen pangolins confiscated within a week in Vietnam in 2008, and the 7.8 tonnes of meat and 1.8 tonnes of scales impounded in China in 2010. In 2007, an abandoned ship was discovered off the coast of China containing 5,000 rare animals. The illegal trade in wildlife from Southeast Asia is leaving in its wake what the IUCN has described as “ghost forests”.

It appears that more investigation is needed into who is behind the trade networks in order to really crack down on the illegal trade in wildlife, particularly in Asia.

Read more on this story at The Guardian – Chinese vessel on Philippine coral reef caught with illegal pangolin meat and Mongabay – Double bad: Chinese vessel that collided with protected coral reef holding 22,000 pounds of pangolin meat.

View photos and videos of pangolins on ARKive.

Kaz Armour, ARKive Text Author

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New Zealand’s Department of Conservation is facing criticism over its plans to use a controversial poison in the habitat of two unique and endangered frog species.

Archey’s frog, an unusual and unique New Zealand frog

The poison, known as 1080, is used in New Zealand to eradicate invasive mammals such as possums, rats and stoats, which threaten the country’s native wildlife. Initially developed as an insecticide, 1080 naturally biodegrades in the environment over time and eventually becomes harmless. However, it is highly toxic and has no antidote, and many countries have banned its use.

New Zealand uses 80 to 90% of the world’s 1080, aerially dropping bait laced with the poison. Its use is highly controversial, with critics claiming that it can also kill native species such as birds and frogs.

Unique frogs

The Department of Conservation (DOC) plans to use 1080 on Moehau Mountain, on New Zealand’s North Island. However, one of the main concerns about the planned drop is the potential effects it could have on two unique and endangered frog species, Archey’s frog and Hochstetter’s frog.

Hochstetter’s frog is another primitive and unique frog found only in New Zealand

One of only a few surviving species from an ancient frog family, Archey’s frog is considered a ‘living fossil’, with primitive features such as a lack of eardrums or vocal sacs, and muscles to move a tail despite the frog having no tail to move. Unfortunately, this unusual frog is under threat from predation by non-native mammals and by the deadly amphibian disease chytridiomycosis, and is now considered to be Critically Endangered.

Hochstetter’s frog is also a primitive and unique species, and is found in just ten fragmented and isolated populations. Listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN, it is under threat from chytridiomycosis as well as the destruction of its habitat.

Unclear impacts

It is not known for certain whether 1080 has any impact on frogs. The DOC says that the poison has been used previously in areas of frog habitat and that rather than harming the frogs, it has benefitted them by removing predatory mammals.

“Last year DOC started a controlled experiment in the Whareorino forest and dropped 1080 in an area where the frogs (Archey’s and Hochstetter’s) had been well monitored and excluded it from another well-monitored area,” said Phil Bishop, a scientist at the University of Otago. “The data has yet to be fully analysed as its still early days and still being collected, but the results are looking good and the frogs seem to be doing as well if not better in the area that received the 1080 drop.”

The common brushtail possum has been introduced to New Zealand, where it is threatening native wildlife

However, others believe that insects may feed on the poisoned bait, and the frogs may therefore ingest the poison when they eat the insects. There are also fears that 1080 could have less direct impacts, with chronic exposure to the poison potentially making the amphibians more vulnerable to disease or affecting their circulatory or nervous systems. This adds to a growing body of research worldwide showing that the non-lethal effects of pesticides can cause considerable harm to wildlife and humans.

Further fears

There is also concern that native birds could be affected by 1080, although others point out that this threat is outweighed by the benefits to the birds of removing non-native predators. Local people are also concerned for the safety of livestock and pets, with dogs being particularly vulnerable to the lethal effects of the chemical.

Some opponents argue that safer, less controversial pest control measures could be used, and accuse the government of self-interest as they own the factory which produces the 1080 pellets.

Archey’s frog is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List

“Invasive pest mammals comprise an obvious threat to New Zealand biodiversity. But to dismiss out of hand suggestions that 1080 might harm native species through sublethal physiological effects and thereby contribute to long-term population declines is just foolish,” said Bruce Waldman, an expert on New Zealand’s frogs. “Until we know why Archey’s frogs are dying… we cannot just proceed on the assumption that dangers that they incur by exposure to 1080 drops have been sufficiently mitigated. To do proper studies on 1080′s effects on frogs would not be difficult, so why have they not been done?”

Despite the controversy, the DOC has stated that the poison bait drop is still to go ahead, with the aim of saving native frogs and birds from invasive predators.

Read more on this story at Mongabay – Saviors or villains: controversy erupts as New Zealand plans to drop poison over Critically Endangered frog habitat.

View photos and videos of amphibian species on ARKive and find out more about endangered amphibians at EDGE of Existence – Amphibians.

Find out more about amphibian conservation on ARKive.

Liz Shaw, ARKive Text Author

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