The U.K.’s new bison are settling in. Three female Bison bonasus (or wisent) have been roaming the overgrown, under-grazed woodland outside Canterbury for three months now. Bison Rangers Tom Gibbs and Donovan Wright seem pleased with their progress. According to the U.K.’s first-ever bison rangers, the horned ecosystem engineers have found plenty of birch, oak, …
On De-extincting the Tasmanian Tiger
The Tasmanian tiger (or Thylacine) was a carnivorous marsupial located near the top of Australia's food chain. Halfway between a tiger and a coyote, its dog-like appearance is used as an example of convergent evolution. It looks similar to a dog, but its genetic lineage is completely different. The thylacine's story is not a happy …
The Decision To Electrify Your Life
I could be one of those annoying people you love to hate. I’m vegetarian, I grow food in the backyard, and I have solar panels on my roof. I offset the natural gas I use for heating each year and keep the thermostat low in winter. I proselytize regularly about the dangers of climate change …
When Wildlife Can’t Get Away
My blog this month is a piece I published recently in Discover Magazine. According to a study coming out of Texas, every bison in North America is polluted with cattle genes. It's a disappointment for some. But it could also mark the start of a different future with large animals. See what you think. "What …
Putting Carbon Back Where it Belongs
Once you start dipping into the literature on animals and the carbon cycle, it's hard to stop. The relatively new field is packed with eye-popping numbers. A paper published in February notes without drama that “....the total carbon stored in wild mammals and birds is equivalent to roughly eight hours of current anthropogenic fossil fuel …
Wildebeest and Climate Change
Noodling around the growing literature on carbon cycling by animals, I recently came across a startling fact. More than half a century of wildebeest recovery in Africa’s Serengeti has resulted in the sequestration of enough carbon each year to offset all of East Africa’s fossil fuel emissions. Think about that for a minute. More wildebeest …
Christopher J. Preston 