Pete Cooper
@petemrcooper.bsky.social
Species Recovery Lead at Restore. Naturalist, writer, Glow-worm keeper. Chaotic nature TikToks and mammal poo sniffer.
My brother’s put forward the first motion to give a British river the same legal rights as people! Very proud and would love to see more of this from other local authorities.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Laws of nature: could UK rivers be given the same rights as people?
As more and more countries grant natural features or ecosystems legal personhood, the UK’s fight to pass nature rights laws is quietly gaining pace
www.theguardian.com
July 30, 2025 at 7:14 PM
My brother’s put forward the first motion to give a British river the same legal rights as people! Very proud and would love to see more of this from other local authorities.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Reposted by Pete Cooper
Thanks to @petemrcooper.bsky.social who reviews our book Great Misconceptions - Rewilding Myths and Misunderstandings in this. @markavery.bsky.social @irishrainforest.bsky.social @chrissperring.bsky.social @iancarter67.bsky.social @landethics.bsky.social
#books #rewilding
#books #rewilding
The latest British Wildlife newsletter is now available, our monthly round-up from the magazines featuring exclusive book reviews, highlights from the back catalogue, and conversations with our authors. You can read the May newsletter here: mailchi.mp/britishwildl...
May 23, 2025 at 1:19 PM
Thanks to @petemrcooper.bsky.social who reviews our book Great Misconceptions - Rewilding Myths and Misunderstandings in this. @markavery.bsky.social @irishrainforest.bsky.social @chrissperring.bsky.social @iancarter67.bsky.social @landethics.bsky.social
#books #rewilding
#books #rewilding
This is a really satisfying image. A new Dalmatian Pelican colony established themselves on artificial islands in Bulgaria, but this photo looks like it could easily be in front of a retail park in Norfolk!
February 10, 2025 at 11:53 AM
This is a really satisfying image. A new Dalmatian Pelican colony established themselves on artificial islands in Bulgaria, but this photo looks like it could easily be in front of a retail park in Norfolk!
Behind all that Lynx chat, Britain’s more successfully ‘bombed’ mammal have come a wee bit closer to home.
It’s gone public… beavers are back in the Somerset Levels, specifically in the Avalon Marshes area - spreading naturally from other populations. Woohoo! We look forward to them spreading throughout the Levels, and they will always be welcome if they turn up on our sites. Somersetwildlands.org
January 10, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Behind all that Lynx chat, Britain’s more successfully ‘bombed’ mammal have come a wee bit closer to home.
Reposted by Pete Cooper
So this is instant dystopian #Anthropocene #ClimateChange gif material 👇
January 9, 2025 at 10:40 AM
So this is instant dystopian #Anthropocene #ClimateChange gif material 👇
Reposted by Pete Cooper
The red-backed shrike, known as the butcher bird for its habit of impaling prey corpses on thorns etc, has been virtually extinct as a UK breeding species for decades. That it was once common is apparent from Richard Jefferies’s description of taking the train from London to Brighton in the 1880s.
![Butcher-birds or shrikes are frequently found on the telegraph wires; from that [Pg 183]
elevation they pounce down on their prey, and return again to the wire. There were
two pairs of shrikes using the telegraph wires for this purpose one spring only a
short distance beyond noisy Clapham Junction. Another pair came back several
seasons to a particular part of the wires, near a bridge, and I have seen a hawk
perched on the wire equally near London.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:nqu647dxieaalotdatjaol66/bafkreidgcm3xax2fdncwvxs4x6vw3a5jm3jsce4mqsg5el2crkfwtfotte@jpeg)
December 27, 2024 at 7:35 PM
The red-backed shrike, known as the butcher bird for its habit of impaling prey corpses on thorns etc, has been virtually extinct as a UK breeding species for decades. That it was once common is apparent from Richard Jefferies’s description of taking the train from London to Brighton in the 1880s.
Reposted by Pete Cooper
The wood is wild. The wood is wyrd. In childhood we know it as the living border with Faerie. As adults we still half-suspect it is a pocket of high strangeness. Any examination of the living current of folklore would give us plenty of reasons to reinforce this summation. – Dr. M. Benn, 1982 #Woods
December 23, 2024 at 1:04 PM
The wood is wild. The wood is wyrd. In childhood we know it as the living border with Faerie. As adults we still half-suspect it is a pocket of high strangeness. Any examination of the living current of folklore would give us plenty of reasons to reinforce this summation. – Dr. M. Benn, 1982 #Woods
Christmas Eve Eve present yesterday in the form of two White-tailed Eagles at Keyhaven - who needs Santa when you have Roy Dennis.
Cherry on top of great morning’s birding with pals which included Spoonbill, Curlew, hunting Kingfisher and 100s of Brent Geese and Golden Plover.
Cherry on top of great morning’s birding with pals which included Spoonbill, Curlew, hunting Kingfisher and 100s of Brent Geese and Golden Plover.
December 24, 2024 at 10:20 AM
Christmas Eve Eve present yesterday in the form of two White-tailed Eagles at Keyhaven - who needs Santa when you have Roy Dennis.
Cherry on top of great morning’s birding with pals which included Spoonbill, Curlew, hunting Kingfisher and 100s of Brent Geese and Golden Plover.
Cherry on top of great morning’s birding with pals which included Spoonbill, Curlew, hunting Kingfisher and 100s of Brent Geese and Golden Plover.
I used to watch Barn Owls, which nested in the barn and hunted just outside, in this meadow as a teenager 13 years ago.
It’s now about as far from optimal barnie habitat as you can get. But at least the Little Egrets poking round the cattle, which I’ve never seen here before, were happy.
It’s now about as far from optimal barnie habitat as you can get. But at least the Little Egrets poking round the cattle, which I’ve never seen here before, were happy.
December 22, 2024 at 5:07 PM
I used to watch Barn Owls, which nested in the barn and hunted just outside, in this meadow as a teenager 13 years ago.
It’s now about as far from optimal barnie habitat as you can get. But at least the Little Egrets poking round the cattle, which I’ve never seen here before, were happy.
It’s now about as far from optimal barnie habitat as you can get. But at least the Little Egrets poking round the cattle, which I’ve never seen here before, were happy.
Reposted by Pete Cooper
An amazing opportunity to join the WildwoodTrust team and help to lead on rewilding our UK native species as our Director of Conservation and Rewilding.
www.wildwoodtrust.org/job-vacancie...
www.wildwoodtrust.org/job-vacancie...
December 19, 2024 at 10:56 AM
An amazing opportunity to join the WildwoodTrust team and help to lead on rewilding our UK native species as our Director of Conservation and Rewilding.
www.wildwoodtrust.org/job-vacancie...
www.wildwoodtrust.org/job-vacancie...
Well that’s just made me cry on the inside. (FYI both the dog and the aquarium are now dead)
December 7, 2024 at 7:04 PM
Well that’s just made me cry on the inside. (FYI both the dog and the aquarium are now dead)
Grey Wagtails are another one of those birds we under appreciate due to their familiarity. Just watch them, they’re like garden birds wearing met gala dresses doing dance racing. If they were super rare y’all would be all over that shit.
December 6, 2024 at 1:27 PM
Grey Wagtails are another one of those birds we under appreciate due to their familiarity. Just watch them, they’re like garden birds wearing met gala dresses doing dance racing. If they were super rare y’all would be all over that shit.
So I’ve just begun importing my old tweets with blue ark. 14 years of Twitter history all descending here! Feels like the last day of unpacking in a new house.
December 5, 2024 at 8:43 AM
So I’ve just begun importing my old tweets with blue ark. 14 years of Twitter history all descending here! Feels like the last day of unpacking in a new house.
Why is @gwruk.bsky.social such a consistent fecking joke. Train to Bristol not even due to depart for another five mins and it’s like factory farming sardines in here. Not safe and absolute daylight robbery. World away from Europe.
December 1, 2024 at 12:35 PM
Why is @gwruk.bsky.social such a consistent fecking joke. Train to Bristol not even due to depart for another five mins and it’s like factory farming sardines in here. Not safe and absolute daylight robbery. World away from Europe.
New lil’ cultural titbit of Glow-worms added to the pile! With my unintentional recreation ‘Aurora Borealis and the Glow-worm’ from Gloucestershire this summer.
November 29, 2024 at 8:11 PM
New lil’ cultural titbit of Glow-worms added to the pile! With my unintentional recreation ‘Aurora Borealis and the Glow-worm’ from Gloucestershire this summer.
I remember downloading the app designed to pick up the calls of the New Forest Cicada over 10ya in the hope of rediscovering this species. Alas it was fruitless, but in another decade’s time let’s hope things are different thanks to this brilliant girl’s help. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Slovenian girl, 12, saves project aiming to reintroduce cicadas to New Forest
Conservationists failed to capture elusive insects this summer, so Kristina Kenda offered to step in
www.theguardian.com
November 23, 2024 at 10:40 AM
I remember downloading the app designed to pick up the calls of the New Forest Cicada over 10ya in the hope of rediscovering this species. Alas it was fruitless, but in another decade’s time let’s hope things are different thanks to this brilliant girl’s help. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Worthwhile reading. Just as we wouldn’t suggest putting Ibex in the lowlands, both ecological and archeological evidence suggests Bison are not well suited to Spain.
conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Rewilding through inappropriate species introduction: The case of European bison in Spain
The increasing pressure to release bisons as a wild species in Spain, as an ecological analogue of the extinct steppe bison Bison priscus, makes it an excellent example to reflect on whether the rewi...
conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 22, 2024 at 8:31 AM
Worthwhile reading. Just as we wouldn’t suggest putting Ibex in the lowlands, both ecological and archeological evidence suggests Bison are not well suited to Spain.
conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Reposted by Pete Cooper
A couple of years ago I wrote an essay about avian influenza within a Dalmatian pelican colony and this was the great fear of the experts I spoke to. One said, "If it becomes easily transmissible to humans it could make Covid look like a birthday party."
www.theguardian.com/world/2024/n...
www.theguardian.com/world/2024/n...
Bird flu in Canada may have mutated to become more transmissible to humans
Scientists are racing to understand what a hospitalized teen’s case of bird flu may mean for future outbreaks
www.theguardian.com
November 19, 2024 at 3:24 PM
A couple of years ago I wrote an essay about avian influenza within a Dalmatian pelican colony and this was the great fear of the experts I spoke to. One said, "If it becomes easily transmissible to humans it could make Covid look like a birthday party."
www.theguardian.com/world/2024/n...
www.theguardian.com/world/2024/n...
Ah yes the, uh, Periwinkle www.theargus.co.uk/news/2472507...
November 19, 2024 at 10:27 AM
Ah yes the, uh, Periwinkle www.theargus.co.uk/news/2472507...
You know that wilding and reintroductions gave entered the mainstream when you can’t even get away from this sort of thing while washing your hands in the Minsmere toilets (hehe I love it)
November 16, 2024 at 4:55 PM
You know that wilding and reintroductions gave entered the mainstream when you can’t even get away from this sort of thing while washing your hands in the Minsmere toilets (hehe I love it)
Reposted by Pete Cooper
This is not a drill, a mummified sabretooth cat has been published from the #Pleistocene permafrost of Russia. It's a Homotherium cub! The team (Lopatin et al.) reckon it's Homotherium latidens. It's too young to have enlarged upper canines. Paper is OA ... www.nature.com/articles/s41... cont...
Mummy of a juvenile sabre-toothed cat Homotherium latidens from the Upper Pleistocene of Siberia - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - Mummy of a juvenile sabre-toothed cat Homotherium latidens from the Upper Pleistocene of Siberia
www.nature.com
November 14, 2024 at 6:09 PM
This is not a drill, a mummified sabretooth cat has been published from the #Pleistocene permafrost of Russia. It's a Homotherium cub! The team (Lopatin et al.) reckon it's Homotherium latidens. It's too young to have enlarged upper canines. Paper is OA ... www.nature.com/articles/s41... cont...
The captive Glow-worm colony, part of a reintroduction project with Lower Ure Conservation Trust, have donned their sleeping caps and gone into winter diapause.
Last week I moved them to their new shed home at Westbury Wildlife Park Foundation where there’ll rest up until spring.
Last week I moved them to their new shed home at Westbury Wildlife Park Foundation where there’ll rest up until spring.
November 14, 2024 at 5:05 PM
The captive Glow-worm colony, part of a reintroduction project with Lower Ure Conservation Trust, have donned their sleeping caps and gone into winter diapause.
Last week I moved them to their new shed home at Westbury Wildlife Park Foundation where there’ll rest up until spring.
Last week I moved them to their new shed home at Westbury Wildlife Park Foundation where there’ll rest up until spring.
Reposted by Pete Cooper
Anyone can re-introduce *wolves* - bring back the 7ft tall soul-eating Irish Elk, you cowards
November 12, 2024 at 9:08 AM
Anyone can re-introduce *wolves* - bring back the 7ft tall soul-eating Irish Elk, you cowards
I’ll linger here till the floodwaters have fully consumed the place in filth (it’s rising quicker by the day), but the transfer has begun. Find me at https://bsky.app/profile/petemrcooper.bsky.social
Pete Cooper (@petemrcooper.bsky.social)
Species Recovery Lead at Restore. Naturalist, writer, Glo...
bsky.app
December 5, 2024 at 1:24 AM
I’ll linger here till the floodwaters have fully consumed the place in filth (it’s rising quicker by the day), but the transfer has begun. Find me at https://bsky.app/profile/petemrcooper.bsky.social
Test test, distinct lack of facists. That’s nice.
November 7, 2024 at 6:23 PM
Test test, distinct lack of facists. That’s nice.