If you traveled back 250-500 years what #wildlife could you see near you? After a four year research project, I can tell you the answer in Britain and Ireland and it is quite exciting! (πΊβπβπ°βπ¦ββπ¦βπβ)!
My Atlas of Early Modern Wildlife will be published in June, but I have special permission to share some of my findings before that, so I will be releasing one map each month here. Here is a list of previously released ones: https://historyandnature.wordpress.com/2022/12/21/atlas-maps/
#gis
December's historical wildlife map is of the (harbour/grey) #seal! According to my research, seals were widespread around Britain and Ireland 250-500 years ago! πβπ§ββοΈβ
Interestingly, seals started to decline after the end of the #EarlyModern period due to increased hunting. Around 1900 they had become so rare that they had to be legally protected. They have recovered pretty well since, and it's now pupping season, so look out for them if you walk on the coast this winter! πβπ #histodons #mammals
Happy #SaveTheEaglesDay!
Where I live now, eagles seem impossibly mythic birds, but according to my research, just 250-500 years ago White-tailed Eagles (or Sea Eagles) were widespread around the coasts of Britain and Ireland. The last native White-tailed Eagle was only shot in 1918! π¬
But this is not the end of the story. The eagles are reintroduced on Mull, Wester Ross and Fife in Scotland, Killarney NP in Co Kerry and now the Isle of Wight in England. Please post pics if you see one! π¦
π
The Burbot is a sinuous fish with chunky pectoral fins. It was never widespread in Britain and Ireland but I have collected records showing it was found in the east of England 250-500 years ago. It seems to have only gone extinct there around 1970!
In recent years there has been talk by the Norfolk Rivers Trust of reintroducing it, so perhaps it will be back soon!
#EarlyModern #histodons #extinction #fishing #fish #reintroduction #rewilding
@LeafyHistory As an aquarist, I always wanted a pet burbot
@CFoix A burbot aquarium would be so cool! You'd need a pretty big tank though! πβ
@LeafyHistory If it gets too big, I'll reintroduce it
@CFoix Noooo if you're gonna get a burbot you have to build it a swimming pool when it grows up, no takebacks! πΈβ
@LeafyHistory Nah, swimming pools are for my crocodiles, great white sharks, and mosasaurs
@CFoix Plot twist! - the only person in Jurassic Park who saw it coming was the person who built it π²β
@LeafyHistory I should have listened to myself
@LeafyHistory Nor am i