EVENT REMINDER: Last Chance to Save the Rhino

From Save The Rhino...

Last Chance to Save the Rhino
Wednesday 12 January 2011, 7.30pm
The Royal Geographical Society, London, SW7 2AR

Kindly sponsored by Abercrombie & Kent

Join Save the Rhino Patron and BBC Zoologist Mark Carwardine for an entertaining and thought-provoking rhino evening.

Mark will describe some of his most memorable encounters with rhinos in Africa and Asia – from stalking the last surviving northern white rhinos in war-torn Zaire, nearly 25 years ago, to his most recent trip to photograph Sumatran rhinos in Indonesia. He will reveal what went on behind the scenes while filming a Last Chance to See Special called Rhino Rescue, with Stephen Fry, and will talk frankly about his hopes and fears for some of the most endearing and endangered mammals on Earth.

Tickets cost £15 and are now on sale.

The Unnatural History of the Kakapo - Now Available in North America (NTSC format)

Scott Mouat's terrific documentary The Unnatural History of the Kakapo is now available to buy in NTSC format DVD at The World Parrot Trust eStore.

As previously reported, the Region 0 PAL versions are available online at ELWIN Productions DVD store.

The production's website has photos and information on the slew of awards that the film has either won or been nominated for.

Here is the trailer for the film, followed by another re-post of my short review. I was fortunate enough to see an advance copy back in January, and it truly is a splendid piece of work, and thoroughly deserving of all the plaudits it has received.

Four years in the making, the film covers the history of the Kakapo from before humans arrived in New Zealand through to the present day. It then details the conservation efforts that have brought the bird back from near extinction to the 122 birds we have today.

The conservation story begins with Richard Treacy Henry's ultimately doomed attempt to transplant Kakapo to Resolution Island in the late 1800's to keep them safe from stoats and weasels. The story then continues with Don Merton's rescue program of the early 1970's which led to the Kakapo being installed on Codfish Island. Don features in the film as he and a small team return to Fiordland to see if there is any chance any lone Kakapos are still out there.

Finally, the story moves to the present day, with Dr. Ron Moorhouse and the rest of the Kakapo Recovery Programme team, learning how to gently extract sperm from males and artificially inseminate the females in order to coax the genetic diversity of the population in the right direction - a project we now know to have been a success - see Kakapo Artificial Insemination a 2009 Success .

Sometimes heartwarming, sometimes deeply tragic, Scott's film is a wonderful record of the dedication shown by a team of passionate conservationists, who are all doing their bit to save the world's favourite fat, green, flightless parrot.

You can learn more at the production's website, and become a fan of the project at their Facebook Page : The Unnatural History of the Kakapo.

Video: Stephen Fry LIVE at Sydney Opera House

Here's a nice diversion for the weekend. Watch the full recording of Stephen Fry's recent performance at the Sydney Opera House. Enjoy. NOTE: Douglas Adams does get a mention right at the end of the performance/interview.

Stephen Fry and the Great American Oil Spill

Thanks to Dave Haddock for this top tip. "Stephen Fry and the Great American Oil Spill" will air on Sunday, 7th November 2010, 8pm on BBC Two. Stephen Fry and Mark Carwardine visit Louisiana to witness the impact of BP's Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Stephen Fry loves Louisiana. Four months after the BP oil spill, dubbed the worst ecological disaster in the history of America, Fry returns to the Deep South together with the zoologist Mark Carwardine, to see what the impact has been on the people, the vast wetlands and the species that live there. What they find both surprises and divides the travelling duo.

Ninth Douglas Adams Memorial Lecture - Brian Cox

News from the Save the Rhino website. The Ninth Douglas Adams Memorial Lecture will take place at The Royal Geographical Society in London on Thursday 10 March 2011, 7.30pm.

The lecture will be given by Professor Brian Cox.

For tickets (which cost £15) please contact jo@savetherhino.org, online, or call +44 020 735 7474

Professor Brian Cox began his career not as a physicist but as a rock star, most notably as part of the band D’Ream, whose song ‘Things Can Only Get Better’ was famously used by Tony Blair as the Labour Party election song in 1997. During the D’Ream years, Brian obtained a first class honours degree in physics from the University of Manchester and a PhD in High Energy Particle Physics at the DESY laboratory in Hamburg.

In 2010, Brian received an OBE for his services to Science. Brian was granted a Royal Society University Research Fellowship in 2005 and in 2009 became Professor of Particle Physics at the University of Manchester. He works at the CERN laboratory in Geneva, Switzerland on the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider.

Brian also writes for various publications including New Statesman, The Telegraph, Sun and Times. His book ‘Why Does E=mc2?’ (Da Capo USA and Perseus UK) was published in 2009. Brian’s ability to present science in an engaging manner makes him a popular television presenter & radio broadcaster. His credits include the recent series, Wonders of the Solar System (BBC2, 2010).

Photo Credit: Vincent Connare

Seven Male Kakapo to be moved

TV.nz reports that seven male kakapo are to be moved to a new predator free island.

With the population soaring, seven male New Zealand kakapo are being shifted from their present home to give the females some breathing space on Codfish Island.

The males will live together on another remote predator-free island, and it is believed that removing the excess males from Codfish Island will benefit the breeding birds there.

TV Alert: Last Chance to See - Return of the Rhino

The brand new episode of Last Chance To See featuring the translocation of Northern White Rhino will air at 8pm on Sunday 31st October on BBC2. As well as the aforementioned "Complete Collection DVD set" which includes this episode, it is also being released separately as Last Chance To See - Return of the Rhino