Editor’s Note

The Anthropocene has come to be known as a geological period in Earth’s history dominated by human activities. Large-scale agricultural expansion, industrialisation and urbanisation, combined with unsustainable resource extraction have profoundly impacted the planet’s geology and ecosystems, resulting in climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, deforestation, and alterations to land use patterns.

In this issue, we learn about these human-made impacts: on endangered numbats and grass-trees in Australia; on the Iberian lynx population in Spain, which failed to breed in 2023; on Masai giraffes in Kenya and Tanzania, undergoing a ‘silent extinction’; on gaur in India, whose coexistence with humans rests on a delicate balance; and on large carnivores living in proximity to urban areas.

Yet, we are also reminded of the wonders of nature—of fireflies and bugs. For, as Rachel Carson wrote in Silent Spring, "the more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction". We hope you enjoy this issue.