08 Wild Times
Catch up with all the latest developments and discoveries making headlines in the world of wildlife
32 Bluebell season is here
Mike Dilger waxes lyrical on the joys of bluebells – the ancient, early spring flowers that stir the poet inside all of us
36 Hidden Britain
Nick Baker tells the story of the little fish that shakes all over to impress a prospective mate – the passionate and plucky 15-spined stickleback
40 Cover feature:
the secret life of bees Beautiful and intimate images reveal extraordinary insights into the lives and hives of western wild honeybees
50 Wild bison
They’ve been absent in the UK wild for thousands of years, but now a special project is welcoming these “wooly bulldozers” home
56 Tapirs in Costa Rica
Discover how a living fossil is making Central America greener, simply through its eating habits
66 The digital craze
bringing big bucks NFT’s are raising cash for conservation. But what on earth are they? And what are the downsides?
70 River treasure
A conservation team in Cumbria is determined to restore freshwater mussels to our rivers
76 Circus elephant rescue
As zoos and circuses release their captive elephants, what solutions exist to offer these giants a better quality of life?
DON’T MISS...
...the good news that overall numbers of giraffes are up by almost 20% Page 12
32
Between mid April and late May bluebells burst into flower
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A starling chats over the garden fence
82 Q&A
Can starlings learn to talk?
88 Go Wild
A children’s book on bugs, a podcast called BatChat and a flamingo photo collection
91 ID Guide
How to identify sleepy spring ladybirds
94 Photo Club
This month’s competition
99 Crossword
Plus Spot the Difference
100 Your Letters
Join the debate
106 Tales from the Bush
A chance sighting of a blackwinged kite in France
discoverwildlife.com BBC WILDLIFE 7