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South Uist If the oystercatchers had sounded anxious, the new arrival sounds almost desperate, for its call has a panicky breathlessness about it

At the end of a hot summer day what could be pleasanter than a peaceful evening stroll down to the beach? The sun is still warm, there’s just the lightest of breezes, and the only sound to be heard is that of a skylark singing overhead. But we haven’t walked far before an oystercatcher takes to the air, uttering a succession of loud, shrill calls.

Over and over again it repeats its brief, anxious notes as it flies over our heads away across the field, and then returns to make another pass above us. A second oystercatcher a little further away echoes the vocal performance so that our eyes are constantly drawn to one or the other. They accompany us for a 100 metres or more along the track without once letting up. Then they are joined by a lapwing.

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These gadgets are programmable, self learning, sensor driven, wifi enabled, and access the internet optimising energy use.

One was caught in 2010. Just one. A tiny, nine centimetre long mouse, with whiskers like a spray of fireworks and a white, fluffy belly. Since then, none.

Professor Hugh Possingham says authorities must confront prospect that some parts of reef are doomed and focus on what to preserve

Governments must decide which parts of the Great Barrier Reef they most want to save and confront the prospect that some of it may be doomed, an expert on conservation modelling has warned.

University of Queensland professor Hugh Possingham said agencies, including the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, needed to make tough decisions about which parts of the natural wonder are most worth preserving “rather than trying to save everything”.

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Sadiq Khan plans to introduce a new charge for London’s most polluting cars (Report, 5 July). The mayor is right to propose bold action to tackle the public health crisis of air pollution, which causes thousands of premature deaths each year in London. Liberal conservative thinktank Bright Blue is calling for city councils throughout England to be given the powers to set up low-emission zones, so that similar radical action can be taken wherever air pollution is a problem. The government’s current air-quality plan gives low-emission zones to just five other English cities, despite many others being affected by harmful pollution. It also excludes private cars from any charges. The revenue raised by low-emission zones should be used to fund a national diesel scrappage scheme, so that dirty vehicles are taken off our roads for good. Sixty years after the Clean Air Act 1956 was signed into law, the government must urgently address today’s challenge from polluting cars.
Sam Hall
Researcher, Bright Blue

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Two predatory species are added to IUCN Red List of endangered species as pressure from fishing sees their populations fall by half in the last 75 years

Whale sharks and winghead sharks have moved one step closer to extinction, after the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) redefined them both as endangered species on the group’s ‘Red List’.

The two predatory species have fallen foul of increased pressure from human activity, especially the fishing industry, with populations of whale sharks – the world’s largest living fish – halving in the last 75 years.

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The week’s top environment news stories and green events. If you are not already receiving this roundup, sign up here to get the briefing delivered to your inbox

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The Victoria Derbyshire programme discusses the controversial use of homeopathy by vets as more than 2,300 people sign a petition calling for the treatment to be banned.

A bald eagle, drought-hit alligators, and a feeding leopard are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world

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Scientists have designed a robotic stingray powered by light-activated muscle cells.

Scientists have mutated mice to turn them into "super sniffers", in research aiming to create a new generation of tracker animals.

Manmade climate change increased the risk of heat-related deaths by about 70% in Paris and 20% in London in 2003, research shows

Hundreds of deaths in the searing European heatwave of 2003 can be attributed to manmade climate change, say scientists.

Researchers calculated that 506 out of 735 heat-related deaths recorded that summer in Paris – the hottest city – were due to global warming.

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About 1,000 of the UK's vets sign a petition calling for a ban on homeopathy being prescribed to animals.

Langstone, Hampshire Parting the ivy I discovered a buff-tailed bumblebee ensnared in an orb web

A frantic buzz emanated from behind the curtain of ivy covering the fence, rising in pitch like an accelerating Vespa scooter. Parting the glossy leaves I discovered a buff-tailed bumblebee ensnared in an orb web.

Researchers have discovered that bees generate a positive electrostatic charge as they fly. This helps pollen grains stick to their bodies as they forage, but has the unfortunate side effect of increasing the likelihood that they will be caught in a web. Spider silk tends to be neutral or negatively charged, which causes an attractive interaction between insect and web.

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The part owner of a relatively new Queensland coal generator put into administration after being unable to refinance its debt facilities.

Big generators line up against proposed rule change that could encourage battery storage and reduce wholesale electricity costs. Their opposition to rules that favour new technologies seen in same light as their fight against renewable energy targets.

Here's a quick trend in the output of Hornsdale Wind Farm compared with the aggregate output of all wind farms across South Australia..

AGL Energy’s future in gas is problematic, but the extent of its problems revealed this week is surprising.

Just as President John F. Kennedy famously implored Americans to ask what they might do for their country rather than vice versa, the New South Wales government’s decision to ban greyhound racing from July next year suggests an approach that asks not what animals can do for us, but what we can do for them.

Nor is NSW the only place looking at dog racing in this way. In the 55 years since JFK’s speech, 40 US states have banned greyhound racing, leaving only 19 dog tracks in six states still operating.

The principal reason for the NSW government’s decision is the high “wastage rate”. According to the special inquiry into the NSW industry, 50-70% of all greyhounds raised for racing are killed simply because they are too slow, meaning that at least half of the almost 98,000 dogs bred for racing over the past 12 years have been killed.

Reforming the industry was considered possible, but difficult, in relation to the live baiting scandal that engulfed Victorian racing in 2015. But the wastage of dogs that are too slow has become an integral part of the business model, rather than a rogue practice, and as such is much harder to tackle.

Similar problems exist in the racehorse industry, where the wastage rate is close to 40%. But the financial and political implications of a similar ban on horseracing are far more profound. There have already been suggestions of a class factor at play here, with the sport of kings protected while the “battlers' sport” is banned.

Protecting ‘useless’ animals

Protection for animals that have outlived their useful purpose for humans is relatively rare in Western societies, but in Eastern religions it often features prominently. In India, cows that are too old to give milk are retired to shelters, where the public donate food and money to keep them in good health until they die. This principle is firmly embedded in the Hindu religion.

In contrast, the Christian and Muslim traditions hold that animals have been put on Earth solely for our benefit. For most scientists and philosophers this is a convenient interpretation of the scriptures but biologically absurd, especially when we consider the question of the killing of those that don’t suit our purpose or match up to arbitrarily defined standards.

Some will argue that (humanely) killing an animal does not affect its welfare, but most acknowledge that we have a moral imperative to provide animals with a life that is valued and sufficiently long to be worth living.

Western society is beginning to wake up to the massive wastage in its dairy industry, with male (bobby) calves routinely slaughtered at just a few days of age, and cows that rarely last more than two or three lactations in the herd being killed at about 5 years of age, when their natural lifespan is 25.

There are the rudiments of protection systems in Western society, for some animals at least. Regarded by the industry as “spent hens”, chickens are routinely condemned to an early death after just one season’s laying because they will be less productive in their second year. But charities are beginning to offer opportunities for members of the public to give homes to these hens. Similarly, the Donkey Sanctuary in the UK offers retirement to weary donkeys.

For many the recognition in Western society that animals are not just a commodity is too little, too late. The animal industries are intensifying at a rate never experienced before in response to growing demand, particularly in Asia. The financial pressure on greyhound trainers to increase their dogs’ speed to win more prize money is so great that they often don’t consider the ethics of what they are doing. Illegalising a cruel business is the only answer.

And how will the greyhounds be affected by this decision? There are concerns that the ban will lead to more deaths as trainers dump their obsolete dogs. Is rehoming an alternative to wastage? The extensive selection of the greyhound for speed makes them less than ideal as pets, and it seems unlikely that new homes can be found for all of NSW’s greyhounds.

Advocates will argue that the dogs love the sport. Admittedly there is something in dogs that makes them chase objects that run in front of them, and many dogs will do it until they are exhausted. It’s in their genetic makeup, as over the millennia of evolution those that could do this would have had an advantage. But it is the associated treatment of the dogs as commodities that makes this sport unacceptable in today’s society.

Beyond reform?

The other reason for the NSW government’s decision is that the industry was deemed to be inherently corrupt and beyond reform, as detailed by Justice Michael McHugh’s report on the industry. This is a sad reflection of how the government/industry partnership model of managing our animal industries has failed to inspire confidence.

The ACT has also announced a ban, although other states seem unlikely to follow suit, citing the profit generated by the industry or the high costs of compensating those involved.

The Victorian government believes it can reform its industry in the wake of the live baiting scandal, but the Australian federal government has repeatedly claimed to be able to do this with livestock export and still the exposés of cruelty keep coming.

Asking what we can do for the greyhounds that have been exploited in this way is just the first step in repairing a damaged sense of trust that man’s best friend so faithfully placed in us.

Clive Phillips is on the Scientific Expert Advisory Panel of the animal charity Voiceless

A meditation on the bush, the past and one Aboriginal man's need for peace and space.