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| Planet Earth II showed that wild animals are the true metropolitan elites Planet Earth II showed that wild animals are the true metropolitan elites | |
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| A low hee-hee-hee and the soft clack of hyena claw on the cobbles of Harar. The surrealism of a leopard in Mumbai. The tragedy of the turtle plodding the wrong way up the beach in Florida. Each episode of Planet Earth II seems more marvellous than the last, but this weekend’s Cities must be the best yet. | A low hee-hee-hee and the soft clack of hyena claw on the cobbles of Harar. The surrealism of a leopard in Mumbai. The tragedy of the turtle plodding the wrong way up the beach in Florida. Each episode of Planet Earth II seems more marvellous than the last, but this weekend’s Cities must be the best yet. |
| The series is a superlative monument to public service broadcasting; the BBC Natural History Unit, which celebrates its 60th birthday next year; and Sir David Attenborough, who soon celebrates his 91st. Planet Earth II brilliantly deploys new technology to offer an immersive, animal’s-eye-view, which is a decent justification for the absence of people in earlier episodes. Although it is lovely to spend Sunday evenings floating through a non-human world, I prefer to see the intrusive reality a little more. Cities delivered that. | The series is a superlative monument to public service broadcasting; the BBC Natural History Unit, which celebrates its 60th birthday next year; and Sir David Attenborough, who soon celebrates his 91st. Planet Earth II brilliantly deploys new technology to offer an immersive, animal’s-eye-view, which is a decent justification for the absence of people in earlier episodes. Although it is lovely to spend Sunday evenings floating through a non-human world, I prefer to see the intrusive reality a little more. Cities delivered that. |
| It is a hopeful film, and this is not to peddle false hope. This year’s State of Nature report revealed a majority of British wild species in decline. In our newest habitat, however, this trend is reversed: 53% of urban species have increased while 47% declined. The peregrines Planet Earth II filmed in New York are familiar in many provincial English cities. New species, such as London’s ring-necked parakeets, have rapidly found their urban niche. Post-industrial places are often richer in wildlife than arable greenbelt: Canvey Wick – to be expanded as a nature reserve – is “a brownfield rainforest” boasting 1,400 invertebrate species. | It is a hopeful film, and this is not to peddle false hope. This year’s State of Nature report revealed a majority of British wild species in decline. In our newest habitat, however, this trend is reversed: 53% of urban species have increased while 47% declined. The peregrines Planet Earth II filmed in New York are familiar in many provincial English cities. New species, such as London’s ring-necked parakeets, have rapidly found their urban niche. Post-industrial places are often richer in wildlife than arable greenbelt: Canvey Wick – to be expanded as a nature reserve – is “a brownfield rainforest” boasting 1,400 invertebrate species. |
| It’s a mixed picture. Cities will only ever suit some species, and urbanisation remains a big cause of species loss. As building densities increase and some invasive species thrive, the overall abundance of nature in British cities is falling. | It’s a mixed picture. Cities will only ever suit some species, and urbanisation remains a big cause of species loss. As building densities increase and some invasive species thrive, the overall abundance of nature in British cities is falling. |
| But the oddest moment in Planet Earth II – when introduced catfish pounced on pigeons by a river in France – may also be the most inspirational. The adaptability of other species is an unceasing miracle. We just have to give them room. | But the oddest moment in Planet Earth II – when introduced catfish pounced on pigeons by a river in France – may also be the most inspirational. The adaptability of other species is an unceasing miracle. We just have to give them room. |
| From butterflies to bullets | From butterflies to bullets |
| I felt like William Boot last week. The nature diarist’s column – “feather-footed through the plashy fen passes the questing vole” – leads to a case of mistaken identity and his accidental dispatch to an African war in Evelyn Waugh’s satire Scoop. For the past few years I’ve written mainly about butterflies, but a forthcoming assignment requires hostile environment training. | I felt like William Boot last week. The nature diarist’s column – “feather-footed through the plashy fen passes the questing vole” – leads to a case of mistaken identity and his accidental dispatch to an African war in Evelyn Waugh’s satire Scoop. For the past few years I’ve written mainly about butterflies, but a forthcoming assignment requires hostile environment training. |
| So feather-footed through the plashy woodlands of Herefordshire I passed before being ambushed by former special forces firing blanks who subjected me to fake torture and execution for an all-too-real hour. Much of the course is emergency medicine and I’m now an evangelist for first aid training for all: as our excellent teachers pointed out, most of us will be more at risk from road accidents than gunfire, wherever we are in the world. | So feather-footed through the plashy woodlands of Herefordshire I passed before being ambushed by former special forces firing blanks who subjected me to fake torture and execution for an all-too-real hour. Much of the course is emergency medicine and I’m now an evangelist for first aid training for all: as our excellent teachers pointed out, most of us will be more at risk from road accidents than gunfire, wherever we are in the world. |
| Hunter’s shot in the foot | Hunter’s shot in the foot |
| To the long list of first-world problems can be added perhaps the most tragic: Bridgwater and West Somerset MP Ian Liddell-Grainger will be unable to fully participate in this winter’s shooting season, as he forgot to renew his gun licence. But Liddell-Grainger is not to blame for his forgetfulness: it’s the “utterly incompetent” local police who, according to the Somerset County Gazette, told him it would take 16 weeks to issue a new one. | To the long list of first-world problems can be added perhaps the most tragic: Bridgwater and West Somerset MP Ian Liddell-Grainger will be unable to fully participate in this winter’s shooting season, as he forgot to renew his gun licence. But Liddell-Grainger is not to blame for his forgetfulness: it’s the “utterly incompetent” local police who, according to the Somerset County Gazette, told him it would take 16 weeks to issue a new one. |
| “When I mentioned the fact that I was a MP it was suggested that if the government gave the force some more money they might be able to get these things done more quickly,” fumed Liddell-Grainger, who has supported police cuts. Hooray for the thin blue line that keeps our society from falling to the barbarians. | “When I mentioned the fact that I was a MP it was suggested that if the government gave the force some more money they might be able to get these things done more quickly,” fumed Liddell-Grainger, who has supported police cuts. Hooray for the thin blue line that keeps our society from falling to the barbarians. |