Congratulations! The pitter patter of pelican chicks can now be heard in St.James’s Park London for the first time in 360 years

 

First pelicans in 360 years hatch in St James’s Park London

Birds have been in the park since the Russian ambassador gave King Charles II two in 1664 – but none ever bred there

They arrived in the royal park shortly before the Great Fire of London, when the Russian ambassador presented a pair to King Charles II as a gift.

But although pelicans have been living in St James’s Park since 1664, none ever learned the art of courtship – until now, when for the first time in more than 360 years, chicks have been born.

The first of four chicks hatched on 17 May and all have now survived their first month, to the delight of the Royal Parks manager, Mark Wasilewski. “This really is a first for us,” he said. “We’re gobsmacked.”

There are six adult great white pelicans living in the park: two males, called Sun and Moon, and four females, called Star, Isla, Tiffany and Gargi.

“Pelicans normally only breed when they’re in large groups of 10, 12 or more,” said Wasilewski. “We’ve always had between two and six – never a great number – and as the pelicans ave passed away, we’ve decided when it’s time to bring in some more … just to keep that tradition going, which we think is a really important tradition for St James’s Park.”

Five eggs were laid in three nests, and eight-year-old Star and 30-year-old Gargi, an “elderly female pelican”, shared sitting on one nest. “One of the two males must have impregnated one of them, but unfortunately we don’t know which of the two actually laid the eggs,” he said. “And we don’t know which dad has played around.”

Gargi has been a permanent resident of St James’s Park since she was found in a garden in Southend 1996, although she has occasionally been spotted flying to London zoo in Regent’s Park to steal fish.

Wasilewski is working with Blackpool zoo, Royal Veterinary College, the Zoological Society of London and the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, to provide expert care for the chicks. He said they had a ferocious appetite – “which is good news” – and were “ever so ugly”. “Someone said they look a little like dinosaurs. They’re completely black, they’re featherless and already they’ve got the little pointed bills.”

They are beginning to grow “nice furry chestnut-brown down”, but they will not start getting feathers until they are eight or nine weeks old.

The chicks are “just beginning to waddle” around the nest but are vulnerable until they take to the water with their parents when they are about 12 weeks old. Visitors have been urged to give them space and avoid disturbing them.

“They’re growing at an enormously fast rate. Week one, they were the size of a pigeon. Week two, they were the size of a very small duck. We were looking at the eldest one and we think it’s probably about 2ft high now already.”

The chicks in their nest: ‘Someone said they look a little like dinosaurs.’ Photograph: The Royal Parks/PA

When the first egg hatched “our wildest dreams were fulfilled”, he said. “We were always hoping that something like that would happen but we never really thought it would. It’s absolutely delightful … with the world as it is, to see something like this. It’s nature at its best.”

Wildlife officers have particularly enjoyed “seeing the mothers nestling the youngsters under their wings”.

The pelicans were enclosed on Duck Island during the avian flu outbreak earlier this year and were released on 9 April. “On the 13 April, we discovered they were making a nest. So when you’re cooped on Duck Island with nothing to do for several weeks, we know now what they do,” he said

Videos: hundreds of thousands of mice are swarming Australia’s farms a huge financial and emotional disaster

 

© CSIRO / CC BY 3.0

A mouse plague  has struck parts of Australia, and it's not for the first time. The startling scenes in this Instagram post show hundreds of thousands of mice streaming around agricultural equipment and across roads. Farmers and the authorities can only do their best against a relentless onslaught.

Australia's Worst Mouse Plague in Living Memory

News reports coming out of Australia are shocking. Farmers in many parts of the country are facing financial ruin as they spend time and money on baiting rodents and replanting ruined crops. Then there is the emotional cost as they lie awake at night listening to the mice racing across their ceilings and around AC units. Add to this the inevitable stench caused by having so many rodents concentrated in one area.

The current mouse plague is affecting large parts of Western and Southern Australia. In a previous mouse plague in 2021, prisoners in New South Wales had to be relocated after mice caused extensive damage to a jail.

What Has Caused the Mouse Plague?

Part of the reason for this plague is the recent bumper harvest. There is a lot of grain spilled in paddocks, and that's an easily accessible and plentiful food source for the mice. On top of that, early summer rain has encouraged young, green shoots to sprout, providing even more food.

The History of Australian Mouse Plagues

The house mouse (Mus domesticus) was introduced to Australia by the first European settlers during the late 18th century. The first ever plague was reported in 1917, involving an estimated 32 million mice. Since then, these phenomena have been recorded regularly.

Mice were introduced to Australia in the 18th century.

©iStock.com/Víctor Suárez Naranjo

Plagues occur when mouse breeding accelerates rapidly. Their breeding season starts in October and continues until the following May. They can reproduce at an alarming rate, producing litters of up to 11 offspring every three weeks, and can begin breeding as early as five weeks old. It takes just four to five generations for a plague to develop.

However, certain conditions must be met to support large mouse populations: sufficient food and water, suitable temperatures, and adequate nesting sites.

The Impact of a Mouse Plague

Mouse plagues are a financial disaster. Wheat, the main winter cereal crop grown in southern and eastern Australia, suffers the most from mouse plagues. However, mice also damage other crops, animal husbandry facilities, farm machinery, vehicles, and homes. Mice also transmit diseases such as Salmonella to humans and domestic animals, leptospirosis to humans and animals, and encephalomyocarditis virus to pigs.

Controlling the Plague

This sort of catastrophe needs an integrated pest management strategy to tackle it. Buildings need to be mouse-proofed, and good hygiene practices need to be introduced. Rodenticides are the most effective control option. However, even this leaves farmers with the task of disposing of millions of mouse corpses, which is deeply unpleasant!

Sharon Parry

Fri, June 19, 2026 at 2:32 PM GMT+2

The horse drawn carriages in Central Park New York have been a safety concern for tourists and horses for many years: a young man died Wednesday thrown out of a carriage

 

https://voordierenblogger.blogspot.com/search?q=central+park+New+York

A previous article about the dangerous situation of horse drawn carriages in Central Park

A teenager thrown to the ground on Wednesday when a Central Park carriage horse bolted away from its driver has died, according to police.

The 18-year-old was riding in the horse-drawn carriage with three other passengers when the accident happened just before 3pm, according to the New York police department. At least two passengers were sent flying out of the careening cab.

The teenager was initially hospitalized in critical condition. The other passengers refused medical treatment.

This photo was taken a couple of years ago when another horse collapsed and died of exhaustion. 

The Transport Workers Union, which represents carriage industry employees, said the driver had dismounted to take a photograph of his passengers, which they are not supposed to do.

The horse had been in the park for only six weeks, according to Alexander Kemp, the administrative vice-president of the union’s local chapter. He said he wanted a full investigation.

“Safety in the park has been a growing concern among many, and improvements are needed to be made with respect to all vehicles, including e-bicycles, delivery vehicles, pedicabs and horse-drawn carriages,” he said in a statement.

Video showed the horse sprinting through the park as two people appeared to jump from the four-wheeled carriage. A second video shows the cab toppling over after clipping the wheels of another carriage on the park’s busy loop.

It’s a fraught moment for Central Park’s 150-year-old horse-drawn carriage industry. The industry has long been seen as a quaint attraction that offers tourists a romantic remnant of a bygone New York, while providing hundreds of jobs to drivers, along with many farm and racing horses. But they are now facing the growing threat of a ban from opponents who say the rides are both inhumane to horses and a danger to city residents.

Wednesday’s event follows several recent horse-related problems in the park, including the fatal collapse of a horse last week.

The Central Park Conservancy, the non-profit which operates the park and came out last summer in support of banning horse-drawn carriages, said the back-to-back events should bring an end to the industry.

“A young man came to enjoy our park and lost his life,” the group said in a statement. “That is not an acceptable cost of an antiquated industry operating in the middle of one of the most heavily used public spaces in America.”

Central Park is nearly 850 acres and attracts millions of people every year.

Some of the information: from The Guardian

Welcome to The Wildcat Sanctuary ( US ) all cats with a history of abuse now living a good life ( photos of them and their stories )

 

Welcome to The Wildcat Sanctuary

They will never know freedom.

But with your help, they can know compassion. Meet the cats:

https://www.wildcatsanctuary.org/medium-cats/

https://www.wildcatsanctuary.org/big-cats/

Small Cats Archives - The Wildcat Sanctuary

Help create a world where animal sanctuaries are no longer needed.

Strategic Anchors

• Human safety is always first
• Treat all staff, donors and supporters as special as our cats
• Go above and beyond to make our cats happy – always
• Customize care for each resident
• Keep our cats at “sanctuary weight”
• Be proactive with medical care, husbandry, habitats and enrichment
• Compassionate end of life decisions are a gift
• Inspire advocates at every touch point

By The Numbers

• 355 wild cats have been provided sanctuary since 1999
• 16 formal species (including domestic cat, 17 including domestic dog)
• 20 wildcat species and hybrid varieties since 1999
• 205 acres of natural habitats

This is Dimitri's story

Dimitri’s a male Bengal tiger who arrived at the sanctuary in 2016. He was six years old at the time and part of the largest national rescue of big cats to date here in the United States.

Dimitri and his two brothers came from a notorious speed breeding, pay-to-play facility in Colorado. When they were cubs, the general public was offered the opportunity to play with them and take photos with them – for a price. You can read more HERE.

When an agreement was reached for the facility to close, that left nearly 100 wild animals in need of a home. The Wildcat Sanctuary agreed to offer a home to four of those tigers – brothers Dimitri, Griffen, Zeke and their aunt Pandora.

We’d been told Dimitri and his two brothers had lived together. But the cages at that facility were barren, small and so depressing.

When we arrived to pick the four tigers up, we were shocked at the living conditions there. We found rows and rows of barren cages housing tiger groups that weren’t spayed or neutered. If only those who paid for the thrill of petting a baby tiger cub saw the life those cubs would live as they grew too big to pet.

Life at the Sanctuary

What an amazing difference for the ‘Tiger Trio’ (as they were soon nicknamed) when they stepped out of their transport trailer into a huge, free-roaming habitat with so much to enjoy! Perches, platforms to lounge on, new toys, trees, tall grass, boulders, logs to climb and a large pool to splash in.

They spent several years as a trio until Zeke passed.  Griffen and Dimitri still enjoy each other’s companionship but also display brotherly love with a few wrestling matches.

The brothers are fairly easy going, though Dimitri and Zeke would tend to roughhouse with each other quite a bit. Like typical siblings, they test each other’s boundaries and push each other’s buttons. Sometimes, they just need a time out to reset.

Dimitri’s the darkest of the threesome and looks a lot like his brother Griffen. But their personalities are very different. Dimitri’s much more rambunctious than Griffen.

As years passed, their splash pool became one of their favorite places to hang out. And each year, we plant more and more trees since these brothers love tree trimming their own special tiger way until the lower branches are stripped!

Sadly, brother Zeke passed in 2023. But Griffen and Dimitri remain very close.

Vet Day

Just like your pets, we provide preventative vet and dental care to all of our residents at the sanctuary.  Get a closer look at Dimitri’s onsite vet procedure.

How You Can Help

Rescuing younger wild cats is such an expensive commitment since it means a long lifetime of care. That’s why our sponsorship program is so important. It helps provide the best life possible for those we’re able to rescue.

Would you consider becoming Dimitri’s sponsor parent, or even giving a one time donation toward his care?  There are buttons at the top of this page that make it easy to do. And, it makes such a difference for him – thank you!

Witness Protection Cats

You know our over 150 special residents that call the Sanctuary home. But did you know we have other special residents that we aren’t able to share with you yet?

As part of the ‘witness protection program’ for ongoing legal cases, we also provide humane housing for those cats still in limbo in the legal process.

We travel hundreds of miles and sign very restrictive contracts with the government and/or authorities to provide the best we can for a cat or many cats that have been seized.

The contracts we sign mean we could house a ‘witness protection program cat’ for months and even years before the court case is determined. During that time, we aren’t allowed to share photos or their stories with the public.

This means we can’t fundraise for their care, habitat, or ongoing expenses. And in 95% of the cases, we receive no reimbursement or compensation from the courts or authorities.

We’re literally asked to make sure these cats don’t exist to our volunteers, donors, or the public, so as not impede the case.

That breaks my heart! The cats we have in the witness protection program are AMAZING! Just as you love all our residents, I know how much you would love these ‘faceless cats,’ too.

And to those of us here caring for them every day, they aren’t

faceless. We know how unique they are. We know what they’re going through is difficult and we know we can make it better for them, even if it has to be done in silence.

That’s why being a Monthly Pride member means so much! Not only do you support the residents you know, but you also support those that need our help quietly to ensure their safety.

We look forward to the day that we can share each and every one of their stories with you!