Wild Watch

Refuge of the world's wildest rabbit

Aug 18, 1999 The wildlife of the Nansei Shoto is a fascinating mixture of species, and as is clear from recent research on the spiny rats that are unique to the central islands, there may be more species there than we realize. ...

Islands of diversity and divergence

Aug 4, 1999 Although the islands of New Zealand, which I wrote about last time, are fascinating, we don’t need to travel so far to find isolated islands supporting interesting biodiversity. Japan’s own southern archipelago, straggling from Kyushu toward Taiwan, known as the Nansei Shoto, is so rich in both flora and fauna, and such a fine example o...

Island life a short cut to evolution

Jun 2, 1999 Japan is not just an island; it is an archipelago. ...

Back bayous of the Danube Delta

May 19, 1999 Adrift on a boat, with a wall of freshly leafed willows passing steadily on each side, I could not help thinking of Ratty and Mole’s adventures on the river in “The Wind in the Willows.” There were fresh mole hills to be found on the banks, and here and there holes in the riverbanks that might just have been those of Ratty’s...

'Managing' marine mammals to death

Mar 17, 1999 Part two of two parts ...

The lion kings of the northern seas

Mar 3, 1999 Though in Japan’s southernmost islands temperatures are already reaching into the 20s C, which many would call summer weather, in the north the temperatures have been fluttering and dipping, generally remaining well on the frigid side and with the definite feel of winter. In fact, some of the major lakes have only frozen in the last month, an...

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