Species hunting season is open

People with landing nets are not an exceptional sight on campus. But this month there are considerably more of them than usual. The reason is obvious: the BioBlitz 2025. Species hunters from eighteen universities compete against each other to identify as many species as possible on their sites.

The kickoff of the hunting season took place yesterday at the end of the afternoon at Impulse. And the talk was hardly over or the first nets were already going out. Those first few hours there is still a lot of “news” to score. Meanwhile, the score already stands at 114 species. That should be 2000 in just under two months, is the ambition of the organization.

Picnic blanket

The competition is fun, but the real goal is awareness and admiration of the enormous biodiversity that the earth is rich. Therefore, in addition to species hunting, there is much more to do in the coming period. Every few days there are excursions, where experts will introduce you to dragonflies, medicinal plants, plant parasites or whatever else you can see around your picnic blanket.

A new part of the program is a photo contest, organized by the University of Geisenheim. ‘You may submit up to three photos,’ says organizer Bioblitz Mieke de Wit. ‘This is not about the most special species, but about the most beautiful photo. So it can also be a dandelion.’ The public – everyone can vote – and a jury each choose their favorite.

No swan

Last year, Seppe Rademaker and three friends saw fit to name 522 species within 24 hours. That challenge, called a Big Day in species-hunting jargon, he wants to take on again this year. But preferably in competition with other teams on campus. So herewith the call to take up the gauntlet. The date will be determined at that time.

No matter how the species hunters search, one bird they will not encounter on campus this year: the swan. The usual swans in the ponds at Forum, Orion and Aurora are not there this year. This is remarkable, since last year the pair gave birth to as many as eight young. After the winter, the swans did not return.

In addition to the BioBlitz on campus, there is -for the third year in a row- also one in town. For all activities, see: Wageningen Biodiversity Challenge – WUR.

Translated using DeepL.

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