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marcofesta.bsky.social
Marco Festa-Bianchet 🇨🇦
@marcofesta.bsky.social
1.5K followers 270 following 830 posts

🇨🇦🇨🇦 Emeritus ecology prof in Sherbrooke, Canada. Evidence-based wildlife conservation, mountain ungulates, kangaroos, ice fishing. 🇨🇦 elbows up!

Videos
Environmental science 41%
Biology 27%
Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by Marco Festa‐Bianchet

fisherspeaks.bsky.social
Chris Fisher @fisherspeaks.bsky.social · 17h
Aproposal to open a 🇨🇦 hunting season on Tundra Swans-they look, mingle with look-alike Trumpeter Swans (special concern). Swans are very difficult to ID in flight & trumpeters will be killed -reversing conservation successes.
Send yr thoughts to MbregsReports-Rapports-Omregs@ec.gc.ca by Feb 15
A gallery of flying swans featuring both tundra and trumpeter swans demonstrating how difficult they are to ID.

marcofesta.bsky.social
Marco Festa-Bianchet 🇨🇦 @marcofesta.bsky.social · 1d
Went fishing with Indigenous students from Bishop's University

marcofesta.bsky.social
Marco Festa-Bianchet 🇨🇦 @marcofesta.bsky.social · 1d
"Musgrave reckoned he could have finished fourth, but too much heat and too many Norwegians counted against him in Tesero in the north of Italy."
www.bbc.com/sport/articl...
Winter Olympics 2026: Vomiting Andrew Musgrave battles heat & Norwegians to set new best
The 35-year-old Scot finished sixth in the 10km interval start freestyle to post Britain's best finish in a Winter Olympic cross-country skiing event.
www.bbc.com

marcofesta.bsky.social
Marco Festa-Bianchet 🇨🇦 @marcofesta.bsky.social · 1d
Interesting stuff, the guy shot everything that moved. Apparently he hunted in 75% of days... 🧪
chikichanka.bsky.social Miguel Clavero @chikichanka.bsky.social · 2d
This is King Ferdinand VI of Spain
Besides ruling one of the largest empires on Earth or attempting a full genocide on Spanish gipsy people, he hunted. A lot. And recorded the killings
OA PAPER Building historical biodiversity databases from royal hunts
Thread below
link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Reposted by Marco Festa‐Bianchet, Margot C. Finn

chikichanka.bsky.social
Miguel Clavero @chikichanka.bsky.social · 2d
This is King Ferdinand VI of Spain
Besides ruling one of the largest empires on Earth or attempting a full genocide on Spanish gipsy people, he hunted. A lot. And recorded the killings
OA PAPER Building historical biodiversity databases from royal hunts
Thread below
link.springer.com/article/10.1...

marcofesta.bsky.social
Marco Festa-Bianchet 🇨🇦 @marcofesta.bsky.social · 2d
New PB!
I can see 41 white-tail deer from my back porch!

marcofesta.bsky.social
Marco Festa-Bianchet 🇨🇦 @marcofesta.bsky.social · 2d
Yup. Kangaroo pouch young appear very happy to curl up in a jacket while their mother is processed.

marcofesta.bsky.social
Marco Festa-Bianchet 🇨🇦 @marcofesta.bsky.social · 2d
A Canadian marsupial!
alexsmithants.bsky.social 🍁 Alex Smith 🍁 @alexsmithants.bsky.social · 2d
This #Guelph resident (and winter tenant of the #dairybushfoxden) emerges briefly to have a drink and wish winter was over.

Reposted by Marco Festa‐Bianchet

alexsmithants.bsky.social
🍁 Alex Smith 🍁 @alexsmithants.bsky.social · 2d
This #Guelph resident (and winter tenant of the #dairybushfoxden) emerges briefly to have a drink and wish winter was over.

marcofesta.bsky.social
Marco Festa-Bianchet 🇨🇦 @marcofesta.bsky.social · 2d
Might as well repeal the law of gravity. It unreasonably restricts our freedom to fly, and who says it's based on reliable data?
hausfath.bsky.social Zeke Hausfather @hausfath.bsky.social · 2d
The scientific understanding of human-driven climate change is much stronger today than it was in 2009 when the EPA first issued the endangerment finding. There is no scientific basis for the Trump administration's decision to repeal it
Read
Read chapter Front Matter: The scientific community has been studying the question of how human-caused emissions of greenhouse gases are affecting the cli...
www.nationalacademies.org

Reposted by Johannes Quaas, Marco Festa‐Bianchet, Gavin A. Schmidt

hausfath.bsky.social
Zeke Hausfather @hausfath.bsky.social · 2d
The scientific understanding of human-driven climate change is much stronger today than it was in 2009 when the EPA first issued the endangerment finding. There is no scientific basis for the Trump administration's decision to repeal it
Read
Read chapter Front Matter: The scientific community has been studying the question of how human-caused emissions of greenhouse gases are affecting the cli...
www.nationalacademies.org

marcofesta.bsky.social
Marco Festa-Bianchet 🇨🇦 @marcofesta.bsky.social · 2d
Snow buntings looking nervous, maybe about to start flying north?

Reposted by Marco Festa‐Bianchet, Woodrow Hartzog

mattseybold.bsky.social
Matt Seybold @mattseybold.bsky.social · 2d
“If you wanted to create a tool that would enable the destruction of institutions that prop up democratic life, you could not do better than AI. Authoritarian leaders & tech oligarchs are deploying AI systems to hollow out public institutions with an astonishing alacrity.”

Reposted by Marco Festa‐Bianchet

lapresse.ca
La Presse @lapresse.ca · 3d
Transition entre les programmes d’immigration | Jean-François Roberge annonce que son ministère va « évaluer différents scénarios »
Pris entre les candidats à la chefferie et son gouvernement, le ministre de l’Immigration, Jean-François Roberge, cherche à gagner du temps en annonçant que son ministère va « évaluer différents scénarios » pour permettre une « période de transition » entre deux programmes d’immigration : le Programme de l’expérience québécoise (PEQ) et le Programme de sélection des travailleurs qualifiés (PSTQ).  
www.lapresse.ca

Reposted by Anthony Ricciardi

marcofesta.bsky.social
Marco Festa-Bianchet 🇨🇦 @marcofesta.bsky.social · 3d
Illegal introductions by disoriented conservationists are likely a bigger issues than we think. Like poaching, illicit activities are hard to monitor. Frogs were hurt during this one.

marcofesta.bsky.social
Marco Festa-Bianchet 🇨🇦 @marcofesta.bsky.social · 4d
#InternationalDayofWomenandGirlsinScience
Thank you to those I had the privilege to work with
Female scientists that were involved in research in my group.

Reposted by Marco Festa‐Bianchet, Kristina McElheran

nzorach.bsky.social
Nat M. Zorach @nzorach.bsky.social · 4d
Bridge Owner Lobbied Administration Before Trump Blasted Competing Span to Canada www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/w...
Bridge Owner Lobbied Administration Before Trump Blasted Competing Span to Canada
www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Brian A. Nosek, Marco Festa‐Bianchet, Márk E. Hauber , and 2 more

katelaskowski.bsky.social
Kate Laskowski @katelaskowski.bsky.social · 4d
How do we know our research results are REAL? We replicate them! Most folks agree but lament on how hard it is to publish these replications.

My dearest gentle reader, lament no more! Delighted to unveil: Replication Studies, a new section of Behavioral Ecology 1/

academic.oup.com/beheco/artic...
Replication studies: a win-win for early-career training and behavioral ecology
Replicating previous research builds confidence that results are real and meaningful. But close replications are rare due to limitations in resources and d
academic.oup.com

marcofesta.bsky.social
Marco Festa-Bianchet 🇨🇦 @marcofesta.bsky.social · 5d
Good. This is the ONLY way the Species at Risk Act is enforced in Canada, when the key issue is habitat. Someone must sue the feds for breaking their own law. Otherwise they just do nothing, ignoring the legislated deadlines. Because they are scared of the provinces.
thenarwhal.ca The Narwhal @thenarwhal.ca · 5d
Conservation groups have filed a lawsuit against the federal government over delayed critical habitat mapping for southern mountain caribou.

The federal government first promised to complete that mapping in 2014, but it has not yet been released. thenarwhal.ca/bc-caribou-h... #bcpoli
Ottawa sued for delayed action to protect caribou | The Narwhal
Conservation groups warn extinction ‘is a political choice’ as they ask the Federal Court to rule on overdue caribou habitat maps
thenarwhal.ca

Reposted by Marco Festa‐Bianchet

thenarwhal.ca
The Narwhal @thenarwhal.ca · 5d
Conservation groups have filed a lawsuit against the federal government over delayed critical habitat mapping for southern mountain caribou.

The federal government first promised to complete that mapping in 2014, but it has not yet been released. thenarwhal.ca/bc-caribou-h... #bcpoli
Ottawa sued for delayed action to protect caribou | The Narwhal
Conservation groups warn extinction ‘is a political choice’ as they ask the Federal Court to rule on overdue caribou habitat maps
thenarwhal.ca

Reposted by Marco Festa‐Bianchet

newyorker.com
The New Yorker @newyorker.com · 5d
Today’s Daily Cartoon, by Brendan Loper. #NewYorkerCartoons

Reposted by Marco Festa‐Bianchet

alexandreshields.bsky.social
Alexandre Shields @alexandreshields.bsky.social · 5d
Rien ne prouve qu’il est possible de compenser la destruction de l’habitat protégé du chevalier cuivré, affirment des scientifiques du gouvernement du Québec. C’est pourtant ce que soutient Ottawa dans l’autorisation du port de Contrecœur. www.ledevoir.com/actualites/e...
Est-il possible de compenser la destruction de l’habitat du chevalier cuivré?
Le type de projet prévu pour autoriser le port de Contrecœur «n’est pas une méthode éprouvée».
www.ledevoir.com

marcofesta.bsky.social
Marco Festa-Bianchet 🇨🇦 @marcofesta.bsky.social · 6d
Like, really a lot. I can see 21

Reposted by Marco Festa‐Bianchet

rwillson.bsky.social
Willson @rwillson.bsky.social · 6d
Everyone making noise about Olympic Skater Ilia Malinin (a white dude) pulling off the first legal backflip in competition as if he is a revolutionary skater needs to remember Surya Bonaly (black girl) completed a backflip in the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics and was penalized for it
I call Bullshit

marcofesta.bsky.social
Marco Festa-Bianchet 🇨🇦 @marcofesta.bsky.social · 6d
Lotsa deer this evening

marcofesta.bsky.social
Marco Festa-Bianchet 🇨🇦 @marcofesta.bsky.social · 7d
What's the betting that this important source of data will be shut down within a year?
zacklabe.com Zack Labe @zacklabe.com · 7d
Carbon dioxide (CO₂) averaged about 429 ppm in January 2026

10 years ago January averaged about 403 ppm

Data available at gml.noaa.gov/ccgg/trends/
Red line graph time series of monthly carbon dioxide abundance from January 1959 through January 2026. There is a seasonal cycle and long-term increasing trend. Current levels of CO2 are at 429 ppm. This is the Keeling Curve graph. A line for CO2 10 years ago is also annotated.

marcofesta.bsky.social
Marco Festa-Bianchet 🇨🇦 @marcofesta.bsky.social · 7d
Very grateful to whoever found my keys on the ski trail today and hung them on my rearview mirror. I did an extra 8 km looking for them. All's well that ends pas pire.

Reposted by Marco Festa‐Bianchet

zacklabe.com
Zack Labe @zacklabe.com · 7d
Carbon dioxide (CO₂) averaged about 429 ppm in January 2026

10 years ago January averaged about 403 ppm

Data available at gml.noaa.gov/ccgg/trends/
Red line graph time series of monthly carbon dioxide abundance from January 1959 through January 2026. There is a seasonal cycle and long-term increasing trend. Current levels of CO2 are at 429 ppm. This is the Keeling Curve graph. A line for CO2 10 years ago is also annotated.

marcofesta.bsky.social
Marco Festa-Bianchet 🇨🇦 @marcofesta.bsky.social · 7d
In plain English: xenophobe spreads bullshit to leverage anti-immigrant bigotry in Québec. A province with shrinking demographics needs immigrants, especially highly educated ones, even if they look different.
ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/222...
Fin du PEQ : Roberge accusé de répandre des faussetés
Le ministre a fait « plusieurs affirmations trompeuses » ces derniers temps, soulignent des avocats spécialisés en droit de l'immigration.
ici.radio-canada.ca

marcofesta.bsky.social
Marco Festa-Bianchet 🇨🇦 @marcofesta.bsky.social · 7d
Strychnine is awful stuff, the feds are right in not allowing its use. Dangerous, kills carnivores that feed on poisoned squirrels, and could be used for illicit purposes. Alberta ministers must be getting desperate to find fake fights to pick with Canada www.stalbertgazette.com/beyond-local...
Beyond Local: Alberta ag minister urges feds to allow strychnine for gopher control
A request from Alberta and Saskatchewan to allow emergency use of strychnine was denied by the federal government
www.stalbertgazette.com