Only a couple days left to enter this years photography competition!
Remember you can enter each of the three categories: Best of British, International Admiration and Macro, and there’s the opportunity to win peoples choice too.
Send in any entries to our email guzoosoc@gmail.com with your name, date the photo was taken and any story behind the snap!
Here’s last years macro winner for some inspiration!
This weeks #FactFriday we are introducing the european pine marten (Martes martes)
Pine martens belong to the mustelid family and are characterised by their cream/ yellow “bib” on their throat. They are the only mustelids with semiretractable claws, allowing them to spend much of their time in the trees. They are mostly active at twilight and night.
Once heavily persecuted, these animals have been making a recovery in Scotland. A study in 2012 found that martens have spread into Sutherland and Caithness and into Moray, Aberdeenshire, Perthshire, Tayside, and Stirlingshire, with some in the Central Belt, on the Kintyre and Cowal peninsulas and on Skye and Mull. Their population expansion has been linked to the reducing numbers of grey squirrels. Grey squirrel numbers decline in areas where they overlap with pine marten populations, allowing red squirrel numbers to increase. This is thought to be due to grey squirrels not having the same danger response to pine martens as red squirrels, and being bigger and less agile, allowing them to be caught more easily.
Our photography competition closes at the end of the month so make sure to get your entries in over the next few days!
Send in any entries to our email guzoosoc@gmail.com with your name, date the photo was taken and any story behind the snap!
More information on entry requirements can be found on the PhotoComp Tab or on ZooSoc’s Facebook group!
Hi everyone, tomorrow at 7pm we have a talk from Mick McGowan in collaboration with Bangor University Biological Society!
Mick will be discussing his career as a marine biologist and how it got him to where he is today. He will also speak about his current role within the Blue Ocean Watch Foundation.
We will also be hosting a social after the talk at 8pm with Bangor’s BioSoc. Not one to be missed this week!
Note: This event will be held on zoom, with links and passwords sent via email
This #FactFriday we are delving into the life of the hooded crow (Corvus cornix)!
These birds are closely related to the carrion crow and have recently been distinguished from one another. In areas where the species’ overlap, they can form a hybrid species. Hooded crows are found in North and West Scotland and Ireland where there are around 260,000 breeding pairs.
They are omnivorous and will feed on dead animals, stolen eggs, crustaceans, nuts, small birds and mammals. These birds often congregate together in a group known as a “murder”
The Corvid family are among some of the most intelligent birds on Earth and the hooded crow is no exception. These birds have been documented using bread crumbs to catch fish in Israel and similarly, in Norway and Sweden, dragging fishing lines out of water to eat the hooked fish!
Tonight we have Simon from Wildlife ACT giving us a talk. Wildlife ACT Fund is a non-profit trust on a mission to save our planets’ endangered wildlife and wild places from extinction. Passionate, experienced, on-the ground conservationists doing critical work where it’s needed most. Delivering time and expertise, implementing anti-poaching measures, finding and funding equipment, and educating local communities.
They also offer some of the most unique African wildlife research opportunities and practical learning environments in South Africa for those wishing to gather research data for undergraduate degrees. Monitor Africa’s iconic species and the habitats in which they live.
The zoom link for this event is posted in the facebook group. If you can’t access facebook, not a problem. Just shoot us a quick message at guzoosoc@gmail.com for the zoom information!
This Thursday we have Simon from Wildlife ACT giving us a talk. Wildlife ACT Fund is a non-profit trust on a mission to save our planets’ endangered wildlife and wild places from extinction. Passionate, experienced, on-the ground conservationists doing critical work where it’s needed most. Delivering time and expertise, implementing anti-poaching measures, finding and funding equipment, and educating local communities.
They also offer some of the most unique African wildlife research opportunities and practical learning environments in South Africa for those wishing to gather research data for undergraduate degrees. Monitor Africa’s iconic species and the habitats in which they live.
The zoom link for this event will be posted in the facebook group. If you can’t access facebook, not a problem. Just shoot us a quick message at guzoosoc@gmail.com for the zoom information!
This weeks #FactFriday we are diving deeper into the world of the tardigrade belonging to the phylum tardigrada which comprises over 1,100 species!
These little creatures are usually around 1mm long and have a well-formed head and body consisting of 4 segments, each with a pair of feet with claws or suction discs attached.
Tardigrades are commonly found on lichen, mosses, leaf litter and marine and freshwater sediment all over the world. They can live from hot springs in the Himalayas to the Antarctic and have been found to survive in space. While not being classed as extremophiles (due to them entering a state of cryptobiosis, known as a “tun”) they can survive extreme temperatures, pressures, radioactivity and desiccation.
Most tardigrades are plant eaters and feed by piercing a plant cell with their stylets. Some species are carnivores, feeding on bacteria and even other smaller tardigrade species. While most species only live 3-4 months, some can live for up to 2 years.
DNA sequencing revealed tardigrades to have 75-800 mega-base pairs. The genome of the most stress tolerant species, Ramazzottius varieornatus, was sequenced in 2015 who found that ~1.2% of it’s genes were a result of horizontal gene transfer from bacteria. They also found evidence of a damage suppressor gene (Dsup) which was shown to protect against DNA damage from X-ray radiation. When the team then applied the Dsup protein to human cells, it was found to prevent damage of cells to X-ray radiation by around 40%. #tardigrade
Climate Week North East is running from the 12-21st March. They’ve got a range of events planned with many focussing on biodiversity and land management. Attending could be a great way to make some friendly connections and ask any questions you have about the conservation industry! We’ve attached the brochure so have a look and see if anything takes your fancy!
CALLING ALL PHOTOGRAPHERS
We’re excited to announce the (official) opening of our annual photography competition! We know some of you take some incredible photographs so we want to celebrate the talent with this competition. We have 3 main entry categories:
1. Best of British: We have the most amazing landscapes and wildlife right on our doorsteps so if you’ve ventured way up into the Highlands of Scotland or down to the unique coast of Southern England, or anywhere in between – we want your best wildlife or landscape snaps from the British Isles.
2. International Admiration: Whether you’ve moved to Scotland from your own stunning country, or you’ve headed off somewhere brilliant on holiday or expedition – we want your most vibrant shots from around the globe.
3. Macro: The little things in life are important, and some of the world’s most impressive creatures are the wee ones. It takes a lot of skill to master macro photography so our final category will celebrate the tiniest of marvels the natural world has to offer.
Send in any entries to our email guzoosoc@gmail.com with your name, date the photo was taken and any story behind the snap! Remember that anyone who’s sent in #wildlifefromhome photos throughout the year will also be automatically entered.
Your photos don’t need to be from the past year, we’ve had entries from as far back as the 1970s! You can only enter once per category but as many categories as you like. A winner and runner up for each category will be chosen by our trusty committee, and there’ll be a prize for each category! Each year the winning photo’s are printed on canvases and displayed in the Graham Kerr building as well as representing our society on all our newsletters and membership cards.
We’ll be closing the competition the last week of the semester! Good luck!!
