Let us count the reasons to be chirpy

Did 2020 have a silver lining? Sarah Marshall tells the story of wildlife recovery in numbers

Eastern black rhino calf born in Grumeti Game Reserve, Tanzania, following the translocation of nine animals last year – a conservation triumph. The country’s population has plummeted by 99 per cent since the 1970s to around 100 rhinos.

Wild red-and-green macaw chicks fledged in Argentina’s Ibera National Park for the first time in more than 100 years. These vital seed dispersers are part of a bigger reintroduction programme masterminded by Rewilding Argentina Foundation, a partner of Tompkins Conservation, to save the native Paraná forest.

White-tailed sea eagles released on the Isle of Wight in August, at their last known breeding site used more than 240 years ago. Over time, the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation hopes that 60 of Britain’s largest birds of prey will take flight.

Gorillas born in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, causing the Uganda Wildlife Authority to announce a baby boom. There is no solid explanation for the unprecedented number, more than double that of the previous year.

17

Orphaned brown bear cubs rescued, rehabilitated and returned to the wild by the Orphan Bear Rescue Centre in Russia, supported by Born Free. Often abandoned as newborns, cubs are bottle-fed by biologists and taught how to survive in the wild.

26

Tasmanian devils reintroduced to the Australian mainland after an absence of several hundred – or possibly thousands – of years. Captive-bred by the Aussie Ark organisation, these meat-eating marsupials were released into a wildlife sanctuary in New South Wales with assistance from Avengers star Chris Hemsworth.

48

Ethiopian wolf pups born, boosting an ailing population of the world’s rarest canid by a factor of 10 per cent. Just 500 individuals are spread largely between Ethiopia’s Bale and Simien mountains. Disease, habitat loss and human persecution are the main culprits for the species’ demise, but numbers like this could mark the beginning of a turnaround.

58

Sightings of critically endangered Antarctic blue whales off the coast of South Georgia by the British Antarctic Survey, heralding a return to their historic summer feeding ground. Only one was seen between 1998 and 2018, a legacy of the whaling industry boom of the 1900s.

140

Elephants born in Kenya’s Amboseli Park, boosting further a population that has doubled in 30 years to reach almost 35,000. Good rains, improved anti-poaching efforts and a reduction in tourism are credited with this year’s success.

2,489

Wild lions recorded in Kenya last year, according to a government report – an increase of 25 per cent since 2010. Across Africa, however, the king of the jungle is under threat, with a population of less than 20,000 – 10 per cent of what it was a century ago. The Kenya Wildlife Service has launched a 10-year action plan to conserve lions and spotted hyenas, which have been identified as the predators most at risk.

4,000

Grey seal pups crowding beaches at the National Trust’s Blakeney National Nature Reserve in Norfolk. Just 25 were born in 2001. The success is down to low levels of disturbance and few natural predators. Forty per cent of the world’s 300,000 grey seal population thrives in British and Irish waters.