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Lights out: can we stop glow-worms and fireflies fading away?

From night walks with children to switching off streetlights and rewilding areas, naturalists are working to save Europe’s dwindling populations

An hour or so after sunset, green twinkles of possibility gleam beneath the hedgerows of Westbury-sub-Mendip in Somerset. Under an orange August moon, the last female glow-worms of the season are making one final push at finding a mate.

For almost 20 years, Peter Bright and other volunteers have combed the village’s shrubberies and grasslands, searching for the bioluminescent beetles as part of the UK glow-worm survey. Most years, they have counted between 100 and 150, rising to 248 in 2017.

Ben Cooke, a National Trust ranger, places a glow-worm trap near Winspit Quarry in Dorset. Photograph: P Flude/Guardian

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© Photograph: Matteo Del Vecchio & Sara Venditti

© Photograph: Matteo Del Vecchio & Sara Venditti

© Photograph: Matteo Del Vecchio & Sara Venditti

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Dolphin seen near St Mark’s Square inspires Venetian rescue effort

Safety of apparently fearless Mimmo at risk as the acrobatic bottlenose attracts admirers and selfie tours

Activists in Venice are campaigning to save a dolphin spotted in the lagoon over fears growing tourist interest could put its life at risk.

Known as Mimmo, the bottlenose dolphin made its latest appearance in St Mark’s basin, the body of water in front of the square of the same name, on Wednesday.

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© Photograph: CERT

© Photograph: CERT

© Photograph: CERT

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Japan deploys soldiers to contain surge in bear attacks in Akita

Close encounters reported almost daily as bears intrude into residential areas and attack and sometimes kill people

Japan has deployed troops to the northern prefecture of Akita to help contain a surge in the number of bear attacks that have terrorised people in the mountainous region.

Unexpected encounters with bears are being reported almost daily in the lead up to hibernation season as the animals forage for food. The bears have been roaming near schools, train stations, supermarkets and even at a hot springs resort.

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© Photograph: AP

© Photograph: AP

© Photograph: AP

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Galápagos had no native amphibians. Then it was invaded by hundreds of thousands of frogs

Scientists are only beginning to grasp the scale of the issue and understand what impact the tree frogs may have on the islands’ rare wildlife

On the way to her office at the Charles Darwin research station, biologist Miriam San José crouches down near a shallow pond shrouded by vegetation and reaches deep into the foliage, pulling out a small green plastic box recorder.

She left it there overnight to capture the infamous croaks of a Fowler’s snouted treefrog (Scinax quinquefasciatus), known to Galápagos scientists as an invasive threat, with repercussions researchers are only beginning to grasp.

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© Photograph: Joshua Vela Fonseca/Charles Darwin Research Station

© Photograph: Joshua Vela Fonseca/Charles Darwin Research Station

© Photograph: Joshua Vela Fonseca/Charles Darwin Research Station

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BBC’s Kingdom series gets viewers ‘into the action’ with TV drama techniques

New David Attenborough show’s use of drones and moving cameras creates immersive experience like Adolescence

David Attenborough’s new BBC series Kingdom has broken ground by using elements from TV dramas, such as cliffhangers and drone and moving-camera shots, to immerse viewers “into the action” like the hit Netflix drama Adolescence did.

Since the advent of streaming services, there has been an increase in natural history TV shows thanks to the worldwide appeal of the genre popularised by Attenborough and the renowned BBC Studios natural history unit (NHU).

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© Photograph: PHOTOGRAPHER:/CREDIT LINE:BBC Studios/Lauren Jackson

© Photograph: PHOTOGRAPHER:/CREDIT LINE:BBC Studios/Lauren Jackson

© Photograph: PHOTOGRAPHER:/CREDIT LINE:BBC Studios/Lauren Jackson

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Rare white Iberian lynx captured on film in Spain by amateur photographer

Researchers to investigate whether environmental factors may have affected female animal’s pigmentation

An amateur photographer in southern Spain has captured unprecedented images of a white Iberian lynx, prompting researchers to investigate whether environmental factors could be at play as wildlife watchers revelled in the rare sighting.

Ángel Hidalgo published the images on social media, describing the singular animal as the “white ghost of the Mediterranean forest”.

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© Photograph: Must credit: Instagram @angeliyo_o

© Photograph: Must credit: Instagram @angeliyo_o

© Photograph: Must credit: Instagram @angeliyo_o

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Hiking with the wildlife author who studies Yosemite’s high peaks: ‘These animals are equal to us’

Inspired by childhood encyclopedias and Jane Goodall, Beth Pratt writes about the more than 150 species in the national park – and transports readers to a rarefied world

A shrill call was followed by a flash of movement through a pile of boulders on a high country slope in Yosemite national park. “Hello, Sophie!” Beth Pratt responded to the round, feisty pika who had briefly emerged to pose defiantly in the sun.

Pratt, a conservation leader and wildlife advocate, has spent more than a decade observing the tiny mammals and the other inhabitants of these serene granite domes and the alpine meadows they overlook, which gleamed gold on a crisp afternoon in mid-October.

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© Photograph: Gabrielle Canon/The Guardian

© Photograph: Gabrielle Canon/The Guardian

© Photograph: Gabrielle Canon/The Guardian

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Britain one of least ‘nature-connected’ nations in world – with Nepal the most

Others languishing near bottom of 61-country study include Canada, Germany, Israel, Japan and Spain

Britain is one of the least “nature connected” nations in the world, according to the first ever global study of how people relate to the natural world.

Britain ranks 55th out of 61 countries in the study of 57,000 people, which looks at how attitudes towards nature are shaped by social, economic, geographical and cultural factors.

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© Photograph: Ben Pipe Photography/Getty Images/Image Source

© Photograph: Ben Pipe Photography/Getty Images/Image Source

© Photograph: Ben Pipe Photography/Getty Images/Image Source

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