When one thinks of reintroducing wildlife, one usually thinks of big charismatic mammals, such as wolves or beaver, or desperate birds like the Californian condor. But the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) in Scotland is going one step further to save the UK's unique ecology with plans to reintroduce four species of dwindling insects.
When one thinks of reintroducing wildlife, one usually thinks of big charismatic mammals, such as wolves or beaver, or desperate birds like the Californian condor. But the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) in Scotland is going one step further to save the UK's unique ecology with plans to reintroduce four species of dwindling insects.
While RSPB's focus is on birds, the organization works with all kinds of British wildlife. "No conservation organization worth its salt concentrates on just one species and ignores all others," explains Lloyd Austin, RSPB Scotland's head of conservation policy, in a press release. "2010 is the International Year of Biodiversity and that chimes perfectly with our efforts to protect whole ecosystems on our reserves from the smallest bug to the tallest tree,"
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Plans are in place to reintroduce the dark bordered beauty moth, which is only known from only three locations in the UK, all of them unprotected. Living up to its name, the moth is a lovely species: tawny yellow with brown on its wing's edges. RSPB is working with Butterfly Conservation to establish a breeding program for eventual re-release.
Article continues: http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0118-hance_ukinsects.html
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