Latest news with #rediscovery
RNZ News
9 hours ago
- Science
- RNZ News
Little spotted kiwi found on New Zealand's mainland for first time in 50 years
A female kiwi pukupuku found in the Adams Wilderness Area, the first in nearly 50 years. Photo: Lucy Holyoake/DOC Conservationists are delighted after a unique kiwi was rediscovered in Aotearoa for the first time in 50 years. The little spotted kiwi, or kiwi pukupuku, was first spotted in the remote Adams Wilderness Area in the West Coast by a Department of Conservation (DOC) hunter. It prompted DOC biodiversity ranger Iain Graham, alongside his conservation dog Brew, to fly in to locate the bird. "I heard kiwi calling the first night - two of them duetting - and immediately knew they didn't sound like other kiwi. It was exciting, but it took a few days to narrow down the area," Graham said. He said the trip was a bit of rollercoaster. "We were in rough terrain, in typical West Coast weather, and I was running out of dry clothes. Brew would find a burrow, but I couldn't get to the bird. We were so frustratingly close," he said. "I was stoked when we finally caught up with the female on our final night, the absolute last chance before getting flown out." Tiny feathers were collected from the small spotted kiwi to confirm the bird was a kiwi pukupuku, the smallest kiwi species. A little spotted kiwi, or kiwi pukupuku. Photo: Tom Lynch Kiwi pukupuku are extremely vulnerable to introduced predators. Until now, it was believed they only survived in offshore islands and fenced predator-free sites. An estimated 2000 of the threatened birds remain, though the population is increasing thanks to the conservation efforts of community groups, agencies, and tangata whenua, DOC said. Despite years of searching, the last known sighting of a kiwi pukupuku on the mainland was in 1978. "Kiwi pukupuku are one of those unique species which make Aotearoa New Zealand so special. I'm not sure how to express how thrilling this rediscovery is for the conservation world," Kiwi Recovery Group leader Emily King said. Kara Edwards, of Kāti Māhaki ki Makaawhio, said the find was an opportunity for hapū to connect with what had been considered a lost taonga. "Knowing kiwi pukupuku have survived this whole time in our takiwā is incredible. We are extremely excited and looking forward to working with DOC to secure the future of kiwi pukupuku." Since the sighting, Graham and Brew have returned to the area and captured a male kiwi. "We'll wait for genetic analysis to confirm, but the measurements look right for a kiwi pukupuku," Graham said. DOC is gathering information to work with Kāti Māhaki ki Makaawhio to explore the future protection and management of these birds. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
ABC News
4 days ago
- General
- ABC News
The Pookila mouse was spotted in Western NSW for the first time in decades.
The native pookila or New Holland mouse has been rediscovered in the Goobang National Park after a 28-year hiatus.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Scientists just rediscovered a rare insect we thought went extinct 20 years ago
If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, BGR may receive an affiliate commission. Scientists have managed to find a rare insect after it supposedly went extinct more than two decades ago. The Behningia baei, a species of mayfly that hasn't been seen since 2002, were rediscovered in the Mae Chaem River in Thailand this past year. This rediscovery ends a long gap in humanity's entomological records. Until now, B. baei had vanished from every expedition since its formal description in 2006, with no actual sightings since 2002. The main difference between this study and others looking for the creature is that the team behind the find didn't look to the skies for fluttering adults. Instead, they searched beneath the surface. Today's Top Deals XGIMI Prime Day deals feature the new MoGo 4 and up to 42% off smart projectors Best deals: Tech, laptops, TVs, and more sales Best Ring Video Doorbell deals One reason for this is because these mayflies only tend to live a matter of hours or days in their final form — the form we most often see fluttering around if you live anywhere near mayfly territory. However, by using kick nets to stir the sandy riverbed, the researchers were able to uncover juveniles of the species, called nymphs, like little hidden grains of rice in the sand. These juvenile mayflies spend nearly their entire lives buried in fine sediments, making them much easier to locate than their short-lived adult forms. The rediscovery of this rare insect is important for more than just telling scientists where it lives. Mayflies are essential to freshwater ecosystems, as they move nutrients from algae to fish, birds, and other animals. They're also an important indicator of the health of a stream or river as their gills require clean, oxygen-rich water. As such, their discovery in the Mae Chaem confirms that the river remains a healthy habitat. Future work, like DNA barcoding, will confirm the species' identity and rule out any hidden relatives. The team also plans to explore nearby tributaries before the rainy season begins. Meanwhile, they're training local students to help with future surveys. This widespread community involvement could turn rare finds of the insect juveniles into a regular means of monitoring data about the mayflies. Considering the current state of the world's climate, and the fact that common farm chemicals might be killing off many insects, this discovery is a massive win for conservationists. More Top Deals Memorial Day security camera deals: Reolink's unbeatable sale has prices from $29.98 See the
CTV News
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Northern Ont. author releases novella of ‘rediscovery'
Northern Ontario author Susan Allen talks with Tony Ryma about her new novel 'Loon Country.' A northern Ontario author has penned a new book she describes as a novella of rediscovery. Susan Allen of Espanola said Loon Country follows a couple of empty nesters who embark on a camping trip to a lake north of Sudbury. A story of rediscovery Loon Country A stock image of the cover of Susan Allen's third novel, 'Loon Country.' (Amazon) 'It is to fulfill a dream the male character, Matthew McNeice, had since his teenage years,' Allen said. 'A dream to explore the quartzite wall and the shadows buried deep within it.' Allen told CTV News the story follows Matthew and his wife, Lauren McNeice, on a journey of discovery and rediscovery. She said her own experiences with her husband, including their time owning a float plane, inspired the novel. 'We did some prospecting. We flew over a small lake that was too small to land,' she said. 'And the way the sunlight was reflecting off the cliff on the one side just got my imagination working.' Allen said they found quartz and other minerals during their travels but often wondered if something more lay hidden within the illuminated cliff wall. Writing for a long time, process getting easier The author, who has been writing since age 10, said inspiration can come from anywhere – whether a poem, a short story or a fleeting moment in nature. 'I am blessed that I have had some of my past work published in the past. I let my imagination run wild based on some of my life experiences,' said Allen. The Espanola native said Loon Country is her third book and that the writing process becomes smoother with each project. 'The expressions and the words come faster,' she said. Allen self-published the novella through Amazon, where it is available in e-book and paperback formats.
Indian Express
30-06-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
The myths and utopias of two nationalisms
I have been following the fascinating conversation of ideas between Yogendra Yadav ('The nationalism we forgot', IE, May 27 and 'The rediscovery of nationalism', IE, June 5), Suhas Palshikar ('Who stole my nationalism?', IE, May 31) and Akeel Bilgrami ('An alternative nationalism', IE, June 16). I add here my thoughts as a back-bencher. 'Nation', in its earliest Latin sense, meant 'people', referring to their birth, origin, breed, race, or tribe — somewhat like the Indian kula, gotra and vansha. Its earliest meaning in English was 'a people or an ethnic community with a shared language'. After the emergence of John Locke's political theory, the connotation changed to 'a political society — subjects or citizens — inhabiting a defined territory within which its sovereignty is exercised'. That foregrounded the people's identity as citizens and the sovereignty of the political order they adopt, a fundamental shift from the term's original meaning, bringing it quite close to the Indian term rashtra. The Treaty of Westphalia (1648) prioritised sovereignty in the arena of international relations. Yet the evolution of the term 'nationalism', based on the root 'nation', had a long wait in store. The League of Nations was established in 1920 and, as a result, the term 'nation' assumed a somewhat defined and universal meaning. 'Nationalism', which until then was confined mostly to Western Europe's politics and history, acquired global currency as a dominant political philosophy during the 1920s. In the India of the 1920s, the Indian term rashtra and the European 'nation' jointly formed the semantic ground for India's nationalism. What had until then been the 'freedom struggle' became India's national freedom movement. It was around the same time that Essentials of Hindutva (1923) by V D Savarkar was published, defining the Hindutva brand of nationalism. It brought together the concepts of pitrubhumi (fatherland) and punyabhumi (sacred geography). Hindutva nationalism primarily drew upon 19th-century European developments that had led to the unification of Italy and the formation of a German-speaking nation. The term pitrubhumi, for instance, shows the deep imprint of the European unification movements on Hindutva nationalism. The national independence movement led by Mahatma Gandhi and others had a different orientation. It equated nationalism with freedom. It, too, was inspired by various movements outside India such as the American War of Independence, the French Revolution, the Irish struggle for independence and even the Russian Revolution, but its understanding of how India as a 'nation' was to be constituted differed radically from the Hindutva idea of the nation. In the 1920s, Congress established Prantik Samitis, region-specific committees, and articulated the idea of India as a federation of people speaking many different languages. During the years of World War II, Rabindranath Tagore, Sri Aurobindo and Gandhi alerted the world to the dangers of self-engrossed nationalism. The Constitution of India was shaped in light of that vision of India. It described India, that is Bharat, as a 'union of states'. All through the 1950s and 1960s, Indian territories were reorganised as linguistic states, collectively forming the Indian federation. The nationalism inscribed in the Constitution and Hindutva nationalism have remained at variance from their very inception. The main points of difference between the two were neither patriotism nor sovereignty. It has been the affiliation of citizens to the nation on an equal footing. The ideology of Hindutva nationalism is deeply suspicious of the patriotic loyalties of citizens whose punyabhumi is not geographically part of India. The constitutional notion of nationalism accepts all those who live in India as entirely legitimate and equal citizens. Owing to its peculiar reconstruction of history, Hindutva nationalism puts forward a narrative of Indian society in terms of the 'original' and the 'subsequent' citizens. In that view of history, Sanskrit is depicted as the 'mother' of Indian civilisation and its genealogy is stretched to the pre-Indus Valley civilisation. Many professional historians do not accept the Hindutva historiography as the overwhelming bulk of available archaeological, genetic, linguistic and historical evidence points to its deeply tendentious nature. Hindutva nationalism has, therefore, depended more on propaganda and conversion of the gullible to its vision of history. It has attempted to claim all that was in ancient, proto-historic and prehistoric times as a single and continuous efflorescence of 'Hindu' theology and philosophy, flattening all ancient debates and disagreements and all social tensions in India's past. Similarly, in order to push the thesis about the 'suspected loyalty' of those whose cultural geography does not overlap with India's physical geography, Hindutva nationalism depicts the entire post-Sanskrit mediaeval period as an era of darkness. History shows that both these claims are factually untenable. Archaeology and linguistics tell us that some of the earliest parts of the Vedas were composed in present-day Afghanistan and Pakistan. Similarly, medieval India produced a powerful Bhakti Movement that challenged the varna system and social inequality. In fact, the cultural residues of the Bhakti Movement, which had spread in mediaeval centuries across most languages of India, inspired many leaders of the freedom struggle, such as Tagore and Gandhi. Any mention of that historical fact infuriates proponents of Hindutva nationalism. The nation, not as a people but in its subsequent ideological forms, gradually came to include the past of a people as well as their future. The past, when imagined as being spread over a very long span of time, becomes a challenge to memory and begins acquiring the form of myth, really an irrationally compressed and transformed version of the past. The future, spread over an endless time, becomes a challenge to the imagination and acquires the form of fantasy or utopia. Every brand of nationalism in every part of the world has attempted to generate its myths and its utopias. In India, both versions of nationalism have shaped their own myths and utopias. Constitutional nationalism is based on the idea of a past that was culturally and philosophically diverse, while also being wounded by caste and gender discrimination. The Hindutva version is that of a once-upon-a-time vishwaguru, deeply hurt and humiliated by outsiders who came here. Constitutional nationalism aims at correction; Hindutva nationalism seeks revenge and retribution. Can one of the two be obliterated forever? Can the two versions ever meet? Perhaps India will have a secure future when the nation — the people — manages to go beyond nationalism. Devy is the author of India: A Linguistic Civilization (2024)
