So dominant in French soccer, Paris Saint-Germain continues to fall short in the UEFA Champions League.

An all too familiar story was rehashed on Wednesday as the French giant endured yet another humiliating round of 16 exit following Bayern Munich’s 2-0 victory – 3-0 on aggregate.

Second-half goals at the Allianz Arena from Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting and Serge Gnabry took the game and tie from the visitors, consigning them to a fifth elimination at this stage in the last seven seasons.

On European soccer’s biggest stage, PSG superstars Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé were easily controlled by the Bavarians.

Mbappé couldn’t get the better of Bayern defender Dayot Upamecano, while every time Messi got on the ball he was invariably crowded out by a posse of German players.

Meanwhile, Neymar Jr. was altogether absent for the match – the fourth time in his six seasons with PSG that he’s been absent from a key European match.

French sports newspaper L’Équipe, notorious for its tough player ratings, gave Mbappé and Messi a 3/10, while midfielder Marco Veratti earned a 2/10.

“At PSG, when it comes to the knockout stages of the Champions League, defeat is a culture,” wrote L’Équipe journalist Vincent Duluc in a brutal analysis of the French club’s performance.

PSG started brightly, with Mbappé going close early on and Bayern defender Matthijs de Ligt making a terrific goal line clearance late in the first half to deny Vitinha.

But Bayern dominated the second half and, when Choupo-Moting headed home in the 61st minute, the game was up for PSG, with Gnabry applying the coup de grâce.

“At the moment, I’m only talking about this season,” Mbappé told reporters as he batted away questions about his future at PSG.

“Nothing else matters to me. We are disappointed,” the 24-year-old added.

Has the superstar experiment come to a dim end at the Parc des Princes?

When Qatar Sports Investment (QSI) acquired PSG in 2011 and lavished money on bringing some of the world’s most talented players to Paris, a Champions League title seemed inevitable.

But 12 years on and well over a billion dollars spent later, the club is no closer to achieving the success that it craves.

After years of dominating Ligue 1 but failing to break past the quarterfinal stage of the Champions League, PSG went for broke, breaking the world transfer record, to bring in Neymar from FC Barcelona for $263 million.

The following season, the Brazilian international was joined by Mbappé for $214 million.

Another two seasons of round of 16 disappointment followed before the club finally smashed through the glass ceiling in 2020 to reach its first Champions League final.

However, a narrow loss to now familiar foe Bayern in Lisbon’s Estádio da Luz, where the final was staged, was then followed by a semifinal exit at the hands of Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.

QSI doubled down by signing Messi and also Sergio Ramos – one of the Champions League’s most successful players of all time.

That strategy hasn’t worked as PSG were knocked out in the round of 16 last year by a Karim Benzema-inspired Real Madrid and this season by a functional, if not inspiring, Bayern.

With Messi and Ramos both soon out of contract and Neymar’s continuing injury problems, whether this trio of stars will remain at PSG remains to be seen.

Last summer, the club did appear to pivot somewhat from its galacticos policy, recruiting the likes of Fabián Ruiz, Vitinha and Nuno Mendes to provide more discipline and running in the side.

The relatively unheralded but domestically successful Christophe Galtier was also recruited as coach, but his future now looks in doubt after defeat by Bayern.

So QSI and PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi find themselves at yet another crossroads.

Qatar has now accomplished what many thought the purchase of the club was all about: growing the sporting profile of the tiny Gulf state ahead of the 2022 World Cup.

With a now lessening need to bring eyeballs and star power to the club, will the club perhaps place its faith in the tremendous pool of talent that exists in Paris and its suburbs and build a more coherent team? Or will it continue to pursue the game’s biggest names?

What must be tough to take for the PSG hierarchy is that two of its former players – Kingsley Coman and Choupo-Moting – scored two of the three goals for Bayern across the the two legs this season.

“I don’t know if it’s a lesson to be learned, but there’s a lot of frustration,” said Gaultier after the match.

“The Island Green” – three words that have struck fear into the hearts of even the most talented golfers.

A short, 125-yard par-three surrounded by water, TPC Sawgrass’ iconic penultimate hole has drowned many a dream at The Players Championship for more than four decades.

On Thursday, Hayden Buckley had other ideas.

After making a steady start to his first round at the PGA Tour’s flagship event, the American — having started from the 10th hole – teed up at the 17th at one-under par, tied for eighth.

One swing later, he was level for the lead.

Using a pitching wedge, the 27-year-old had sent his ball sailing over the water and comfortably onto the green; his ball bouncing three times before settling and curling leisurely into the cup.

A rapturous crowd roared their delight as Buckley gleefully tossed his hat into the air before high-fiving his caddie, then playing partners Adam Long and Taylor Montgomery.

It marks only the 11th ace at the renowned hole in the 49-year history of The Players Championship, and the second in consecutive tournaments after Irish golfer Shane Lowry took the tally to double digits in last year’s edition.

After a run of 14 years without a hole-in-one between 2002 and 2016, there have now been five aces at the 17th hole over the last eight editions of “the fifth major.”

For Buckley, who arrived in Florida as world No. 107 and is chasing his first PGA Tour title, it marked the second hole-in-one of his PGA Tour career following his first at the Shriners Children’s Open in 2021 – coincidentally, also at the 17th hole.

The fairytale continued as Buckley birdied the subsequent par-four, making him the first player on record at The Players Championship to follow up a hole-in-one at the 17th with a birdie at the 18th, according to the PGA Tour.

A second straight birdie after the turn lifted him to five-under, though this marked the high water mark of the American’s round.

Six dropped shots – including two double bogeys at the 6th and 8th holes – saw him leave the course tied for 38th after carding a one-over 73.

British high jump coach Fayaaz “Fuzz” Caan has been handed a three-year suspension following a UK Athletics (UKA) disciplinary investigation into his conduct, the sport’s national governing body has announced.

A total of 12 misconduct charges were leveled against Caan after the investigation had concluded, with his responses included in the report published on the UKA website.

Two of the charges were removed by UKA, but Caan admitted that he had used “industrial language” (swearing) and “failed to act with dignity” and “courtesy” towards athletes and other coaches on several occasions.

He also admitted that he had mocked people with physical disabilities by “walk[ing] with a limp” and using phrases such as “gammy leg,” often used to describe a pain or injury.

UKA also alleged that Caan had threatened to kick an athlete out of his training group if she developed an eating disorder – a charge he denied.

He also denied that he created an atmosphere in his training group “where bullying was commonplace and acceptable,” but did accept that bullying occurred between athletes in his group.

Caan’s coaching license has been suspended by UKA since June 2021 while the investigation was ongoing, meaning his three-year suspension runs through June 29, 2024. He does not have the right to appeal the decision.

A former international high jumper whose career was curtailed by injury, Caan was appointed as a UKA national coach in 2009 and coached British high jumper Robbie Grabarz to a silver medal at the 2012 London Olympics.

He was due to coach Morgan Lake and Emily Borthwick at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 before his suspension was announced, according to the BBC.

An atmospheric river is a plume of moisture that helps carry saturated air from the tropics to higher latitudes, delivering unrelenting rain or snow.

Think of it as a fire hose that aims at – then drenches – a particular region.

Typically 250 to 375 miles wide, atmospheric rivers can stretch more than a thousand miles long, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says.

In the western US, they account for 30% to 50% of annual precipitation.

While atmospheric rivers are an incredibly important source of rainfall, they can also bring flash flooding, mudslides and landslides, sometimes killing people and destroying property.

“When atmospheric rivers pass over land they can cause conditions similar to those of hurricanes with intense and rapid rainfall, cyclone force winds, and significantly increased wave heights,” NOAA says.

Atmospheric rivers happen all over the world

Ten or more atmospheric rivers can be happening at once across the globe.

A well-known and strong one is the Pineapple Express, with moisture transported from the tropical Pacific around Hawaii to the US and Canadian West Coasts.

The eastern half of the US also experiences atmospheric rivers, with moisture pulled from the Gulf of Mexico.

“Atmospheric rivers are more frequent on the East Coast than they are on the West Coast,” said Jason Cordeira, associate professor of meteorology at Plymouth State University. “They’re just not as impactful and don’t usually produce as much rainfall.”

Western Europe and North Africa also experience frequent atmospheric rivers, as do New Zealand and Australia.

Most notable atmospheric river events

• In the winter of 2023, a series of atmospheric rivers sent an unprecedented amount of moisture to drought-parched California. Over roughly three weeks, parts of the state got between 2 and 3 feet of rain. The coast was battered by 30-foot waves, and the state endured 100-mph winds. At least 20 people died.

• In October of 2021, a strong atmospheric river hit the San Francisco Bay area exceptionally hard. Winds exceeded 80 mph, and 60-foot waves were recorded. In just three days, the storm delivered as much as 15% of annual rainfall to the region.

• California’s megaflood of 1861 is the state’s most catastrophic atmospheric river. The 43-day pounding by unrelenting rain turned the Central Valley into an inland sea. Thousands of people died, and downtown Sacramento was submerged in 10 feet of water and mudslide debris.

Climate change and its impact on atmospheric rivers

As the world warms, the atmosphere can hold more moisture – which will lead to rainier atmospheric river events.

“It’s expected that as the air temperatures increase, the air can hold more water vapor, and therefore any storms that are comprised of water vapor will have more of it,” Cordeira explained.

“So, an atmospheric river, which is defined as a region of water vapor, will likely become more intense. Their frequency may not be more common, but their intensity could become larger.”

Atmospheric rivers will be “significantly longer and wider than the ones we observe today, leading to more frequent atmospheric river conditions in affected areas,” a NASA-led study found.

The frequency of the most intense atmospheric rivers will likely double, the study found.

Erica Herman, who was a longtime girlfriend of golfer Tiger Woods, has filed two separate complaints after the six-year relationship between the pair came to an end. Both filings were made to the circuit court in Martin County, Florida.

The first suit, filed in October 2022, alleges a trust owned by Woods violated the Florida Residential Landlord Tenant Act by breaking the oral tenancy agreement. The filing states the actual damages “are likely to be measured in excess of $30,000,000.” Woods is not named as a defendant in the October lawsuit.

In December, the trust filed a motion for the court to dismiss with prejudice in response to Herman’s complaint, alleging that the dispute between the two began when Woods broke off his relationship with Herman in October and informed her “that she was no longer welcome in” Woods’ home.

It further states that the non-disclosure agreement (NDA) between the two required “confidential arbitration in all disputes between” Herman and Woods, and that Herman’s suit violates that agreement. A copy of the NDA is attached to Woods’ trust’s motion, but the publicly available version of that document is redacted entirely.

The October filing alleges that Woods’ Jupiter Island Irrevocable Homestead Trust unlawfully brought Herman’s tenancy at the couple’s property on the Hobe Sound, Florida, to an end.

The legal filing states, “the Defendant (Woods and his trust) elected to engage in ‘prohibited practices,’ i.e., self-help, causing… severe emotional damages to the Plaintiff. The prohibited practices were done intentionally, with premeditation, and with malice aforethought.”

Specifically, the lawsuit claims “agents of the Defendant” told Herman “to pack a suitcase for a short vacation” before revealing to her that she had been locked out of the house on arrival at the airport. It claims lawyers for the trust were on hand to “confront” Herman with “proposals to resolve the wrongdoing they were in the midst of committing.”

The filing also alleges that agents of Woods and the trust have since removed Herman’s belongings from the property and “misappropriated” over $40,000 of her cash.

The NDA was signed in August 2017 according to the court filing, but Herman believes it is “invalid and unenforceable.”

It notes that during litigation, a trust controlled by Woods commenced an arbitration against Herman based on the NDA, thus expressing its belief that the agreement remains valid.

The filing asks for the “purported arbitration clause” in the NDA be deemed unenforceable under the federal Ending Forced Arbitration Of Sexual Assault And Sexual Harassment Act of 2021 and the federal Speak Out Act.

The former bill, coming into public law in March 2022, “invalidates arbitration agreements that preclude a party from filing a lawsuit in court involving sexual assault or sexual harassment, at the election of the party alleging such conduct,” according to Congress’ website.

The Speak Out Act became public law in December 2022 and “prohibits the judicial enforceability of a nondisclosure clause or nondisparagement clause agreed to before a dispute arises involving sexual assault or sexual harassment.”

The filing does not accuse Woods of sexual assault or sexual harassment. In a civil cover sheet appended to the October suit, Herman’s attorney indicated “no” when asked whether the case “involves allegations of sexual abuse.”

Millions of Californians already hammered by ferocious snowfall were preparing Thursday for a new storm, with torrential rain threatening to cause dangerous flooding and the Weather Prediction Center increasing its excessive rainfall outlook for parts of the state Friday to a level 4 of 4.

“And then in the higher elevations, it will wash away some of that snowfall. So, rain on snow will begin to fill up parts of the San Joaquin Valley.”

About 17 million people are under flood watches in California and slices of Nevada. Heavy rain is underway with the worst rainfall and most significant impacts expected to occur from late Thursday afternoon through the day Friday.

The level 4 excessive rainfall warning is targeted to two sections in central California – the coast from Salinas southward to San Luis Obispo and areas in the foothills of the Sierras near Fresno. The last time the Bay Area and Central Coast were in “high risk” was in 2010, the National Weather Service office in San Francisco said.

Much of the state is under some risk of excessive rainfall Thursday and Friday.

“An atmospheric river will bring anomalous moisture to California Thursday and Friday. The combination of heavy precipitation and rapid snow melt below 5,000 feet will result in flooding,” the prediction center said Wednesday, adding that “numerous” floods are likely for millions.

The most vulnerable areas for flooding from rain and snowmelt are creeks and streams in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, the prediction center said.

Higher elevations will see heavy wet snow. “This will lead to difficult travel, and combined with an already deep snowpack, may lead to increasing impacts from the depth and weight of the snow,” the prediction center said.

The bleak forecast spurred officials across central and Northern California to urge residents to prepare, with residents in one area advised to stock up on essentials for two weeks. Others were asked to use sandbags to protect their properties and clear their waterways to lessen any flooding impacts.

Widespread rain, strong winds, and potential thunderstorms arrive this afternoon. Taking a look at potential rainfall totals through Friday night, the Santa Cruz Mountains and the Santa Lucia Range will see the most rain from this system. #CAwx pic.twitter.com/5qPXdt18VB

— NWS Bay Area (@NWSBayArea) March 9, 2023

Here’s what the storm could bring:

• Heavy rainfall: Most urban areas could get 1.5 to 3 inches of total rainfall, the National Weather Service in the San Francisco Bay Area said. The threat heightens for coastal ranges and inland hills, which could get deluged with 3 to 6 inches of rain, the weather service said. The Santa Cruz Mountains could see up to 8 inches of rain, and local areas with higher terrain could eventually be inundated by up to 10 inches of rain over a prolonged period of time. “The abnormally warm and wet conditions moving in are expected to cause rapid snowmelt. Combine this snowmelt with as much as 10 inches of rain in the 24 hours [from Thursday evening to Friday evening], and the potential for widespread flooding is considerable, especially in the High Risk areas,” the prediction center noted.

• Ferocious winds: More than 15 million people across central and Northern California, northern Nevada and southwestern Idaho are under high wind alerts. Wind gusts could reach up to 55 mph across lower elevations and up to 70 mph across peaks and mountains. Strong winds could knock down power lines and trees – exacerbating thousands of existing power outages from previous storms that dumped heavy snow, particularly in higher elevations.

• More intense snow: Parts of the Sierra Nevada above 8,000 feet could get hit with 8 feet of snow. And some higher elevations across southern Oregon and the Rocky Mountains in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming could get pounded by 2 feet of snowfall between Thursday and Friday.

Already, 34 of California’s 58 counties are under a state of emergency issued by the governor’s office due to previous storms and this week’s severe weather.

Many of the areas preparing for Thursday’s storm have not had a chance to recover from the multiple rounds of fierce snow that buried some neighborhoods and made roads inaccessible as residents ran low on essential supplies.

How local officials are preparing

As the storm hits central California, some urban flooding along with flooding from the smaller creeks and streams is likely. Eventually, more roads are expected to flood as the main rivers rise, said Katrina Hand, a meteorologist at the weather service’s Sacramento office.

San Francisco officials urged small businesses to clear storm drains, stock up on inventory, use sandbags and ensure equipment is properly stored. They also suggested employers consider adjusting their work schedules for workers’ safety.

In Merced, crews tried to clear storm drains and fortify creek banks ahead of the storm.

City officials said flooding from previous, deadly rounds of atmospheric rivers that battered much of the state in January has made the city’s water ways unsafe.

Atmospheric rivers are long, narrow bands of moisture in the atmosphere that carry warm air and water vapor from the tropics.

“The city urges all residents to avoid these waterways and walking paths,” Merced officials said. “Because of ground saturation and erosion from prior storms, expect to see more debris in creek flows.”

In Monterey County, parks will close Thursday and Friday due to the storm’s threat, officials tweeted Wednesday.

In the Big Sur area, officials urged residents to have enough food and other essentials for at least two weeks. The Big Sur area, a roughly 90-mile stretch of California’s central coast, is one of the area’s renowned tourist attractions with rugged cliffs, mountains and hidden beaches along the Pacific Coast Highway.

In Kern County, home to Bakersfield, fire officials urged residents to create emergency kits and to be aware of escape routes and safe areas to seek shelter if needed. Officials also encouraged the use of sandbags to protect properties.

In San Luis Obispo, city officials said residents should be informed on flood insurance policies and be prepared to protect their homes and for possible evacuations.

And in Sacramento, city officials said they intend to open overnight warming centers beginning Friday in preparation for the expected heavy rainfall and low temperatures.

After three consecutive years of an unusually stubborn pattern, La Niña has officially ended and El Niño is on the way, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Thursday.

That could mean a less active Atlantic hurricane season, a more active season in the Pacific – and another spike in global temperatures, forecasters say.

El Niño is associated with a band of warm ocean water that forms in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean, which has consequences for weather patterns around the globe.

NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center said “neutral conditions” are in place now and are expected to last through early summer in the Northern Hemisphere for the first time since the initial La Niña advisory was issued in September 2020.

La Niña has ended and #ENSO-neutral conditions are expected to continue through the Northern Hemisphere spring and early summer 2023. This is the final #LaNina Advisory for this event. https://t.co/5zlzaZ1aZx pic.twitter.com/dXOLGmOP7I

— NWS Climate Prediction Center (@NWSCPC) March 9, 2023

The prediction center also wrote its forecast now favors “El Niño forming during summer 2023 and persisting through the fall.”

The transition to El Niño during the later summer months could have major influence over the Atlantic and Pacific hurricane seasons.

“Tropical cyclone activity in the North Atlantic is more sensitive to El Niño influences than in any other ocean basin,” NOAA said.

Generally, El Niño reduces Atlantic hurricane activity, but has the opposite result in the Pacific, where warmer waters can produce more intense hurricanes.

The warmer the Pacific Ocean is, especially in the eastern region, tropical cyclone quantity and strength can tend to increase. The Atlantic, however, sees fewer hurricanes as a result of increased upper-level winds that prevent hurricanes from developing.

El Niño impacts California

El Niño also significantly impacts California’s weather and could mean a continuation of the current wet pattern already plaguing the state. Traditionally, El Niño brings increased rain and snow across the Golden State, especially in the cool season, leading to flooding, landslides, and coastal erosion.

“Southern California is generally much more impacted with El Nino conditions bringing higher than normal precipitation,” the National Weather Service in Sacramento, California said.

But having a very robust La Niña winter could still have lingering effects this summer even as we transition into more of an El Niño pattern.

“Even though La Niña is coming to an end we are likely to see latent impacts for some time to come and therefore some of the … rainfall impacts of La Niña may still continue,” the World Meteorological Organization said.

“The lingering impacts of multi-year La Niña is basically due to its long duration, and continuous circulation anomaly, which are different from the single-peak La Niña event.”

That’s a cause for concern for many Californians, given the surplus of moisture across the state in the past two months.

Increased risk for global heat waves

The more widespread concern with the return to El Niño conditions for the first time since the summer of 2019 will be the warming ocean’s impact on global temperatures and heat waves.

“If we do now enter an El Niño phase, this is likely to fuel another spike in global temperatures,” said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas.

In fact, 2022 was the warmest La Niña on record, and adding the additional heat of El Niño means the next year or two will likely climb even higher on the list of hottest years on record.

“La Niña’s cooling effect put a temporary brake on rising global temperatures, even though the past eight-year period was the warmest on record,” said Taalas.

El Niño and La Niña are major drivers of Earth’s climate patterns, but not the only ones.

The North Atlantic Oscillation, the Arctic Oscillation and the Indian Ocean Dipole are also have influence and are taken into account for the WMO’s global seasonal climate updates.

The change in La Niña and El Niño patterns contributes to a widespread prediction of above-normal temperatures over land areas, according to those updates.

“The El Niño and La Niña phenomenon occurs naturally,” the WMO said. “But it is taking place against a background of human-induced climate change, which is increasing global temperatures, affecting seasonal rainfall patterns, and making our weather more extreme.”

A little joey pokes a front paw and then its head out of its mother’s pouch. Dave White, a zookeeper at Chester Zoo, in England, points up to the mother perched on a branch and beams with pride. He has been watching the baby tree kangaroo develop since it was born the size of a jellybean – first tracking its growth with an endoscope camera placed inside the pouch, and now, seeing the 7-month-old emerge.

White has formed a close connection with the joey and its mother, visiting and feeding them each day. It’s the first birth of a Goodfellow’s tree kangaroo he’s witnessed, and indeed the first time in Chester Zoo’s 91-year history that it has bred the species. White says the birth is a sign of hope for the endangered species, which is threatened by hunting and habitat loss in its native Papua New Guinea.

The baby adds to an insurance population of captive animals, and it could provide crucial data on the species and its reproductive process to help inform protection efforts in the wild, he says: “This little, tiny joey can contribute significantly to conservation.”

The joey is just one of a series of rare births that Chester Zoo has welcomed in the last eight months. Sumatran tiger twins, a western chimpanzee, a Malayan tapir, a greater one-horned rhino and a triplet of fossa pups have also been born. All those species are threatened with extinction.

With the world facing a crisis of biodiversity as extinctions accelerate at an unprecedented rate, zoos could help to provide crucial protection for endangered species. Chester Zoo’s central mission is to “prevent extinction,” and those words are emblazoned on staff t-shirts and signs across the site. In 2021, it published a 10-year masterplan laying out its methods for achieving this, including scientific research and education, habitat restoration and its renowned conservation breeding program.

“(The world) is losing species at a phenomenal rate,” says Mark Brayshaw, the zoo’s curator of mammals. “It’s really important that we save species wherever we can.”

Breeding hope

Brayshaw explains that the breeding program has a range of purposes. Some species are temporarily bred in captivity to protect them from imminent threats or to give them a head start before being reintroduced into the wild. Other times the aim is to preserve a species that is already extinct in the wild, or on the verge of extinction, while some endangered species are bred to help maintain a viable population that could be released in the wild if threats in their native habitats were eliminated.

Other zoos also have conservation breeding programs, but Chester is regarded as a world leader due in part to its wildlife endocrinology laboratory – the only one of its kind at a zoo in Europe. This is where scientists track a species’ hormones by analyzing its feces.

“For something like the tree kangaroo, we’ll take (fecal) samples every day,” explains Katie Edwards, lead conservation scientist at Chester Zoo. “We’ll run (tests) about once a month so that we can measure reproductive hormones in our female, and that helps us understand when she’s going to be most likely ready for breeding.”

Related: These little ceramic huts are helping endangered penguins and their chicks

Hormone levels indicate when a female starts developing an egg and when she’s likely to ovulate. Edwards and her team pair this evidence with visual and behavioral cues observed by zookeepers and put the male and female together at the optimal time for breeding.

Chester’s lab is attracting interest from elsewhere. Other zoos in the UK and Europe are sending in fecal samples from animals to inform breeding decisions or diagnose pregnancies, and Chester Zoo is also working with partners to replicate its endocrinology technique in Kenya to help conservation in the wild.

Edwards notes that there’s strength in numbers. “If we can collect samples from our tree kangaroos here but also from other individuals across Europe, we can learn a lot more about the species,” she says. “The more we can understand about species biology, the better conditions we can provide so that individuals and species can thrive both in human care and also on a larger conservation scale as well.”

Zoos versus the wild

Conservation breeding in zoos can be a thorny subject. Critics believe that breeding animals for a future in captivity is cruel, as many of these individuals will never be rewilded because their natural habits are too degraded. There has also been research that suggests that breeding programs can sometimes lead to genetic changes that can affect a species’ ability to survive in the wild.

But others argue that well-run zoos engage the public in conservation by showcasing the wonders of the planet’s wildlife. They allow scientists to study animals closely in a way that for some species would be impossible in the wild. And conservation breeding in zoos has been credited for saving some species from extinction – the first being the Arabian oryx, which was hunted to extinction in the wild by 1972 but was later reintroduced to the desert in Oman, thanks to a breeding program that began at Phoenix Zoo, Arizona.

Plus, zoos like Chester bring in big money for conservation, says Brayshaw. As one of the largest zoos in the UK – boasting more than 27,000 animals from 500 different species of plants and animals – it welcomes around 2 million visitors a year. Ticket sales, visitor spend on site and membership fees make up 97% of the zoo’s annual income, he says.

As a non-profit, all of this goes back towards funding the zoo, its staff and conservation efforts. According to the 2021 annual report, around £21 million ($25 million) was spent on conservation that year, 46% of the its income, and in 2022 (the report for which has not yet been published) this rose to £25 million ($30 million).

“We put our money where our mouth is,” says Brayshaw. “We are lucky. We’re a large zoo with a good income that can devote resources to (conservation), and we are effective in doing so.”

For Jon Paul Rodriguez, chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission, the hallmark of a good zoo is one that makes a difference to the survival of species in the wild; that is not simply breeding animals to attract more visitors, but it is motivated to protect them in their native habitat. He believes Chester Zoo fulfils these criteria.

“Ultimately, what we all seek is a species that lives in the wild (and is) playing their ecological role,” he says. There will be some cases when habitat is restored enough for species to return; there will be others where species will be reintroduced to new habitats; and there will also be cases when species will be stuck in captivity for perpetuity, he says. “But if we don’t have those insurance populations, there is no hope at all.”

Before Qatar first struck “black gold” in 1939, life in the Gulf revolved around pearls. These iridescent gems of the deep shaped the culture, politics, regional relations and fortunes of its inhabitants over more than 7,000 years – not least Qatar’s ruling Al Thani family, who were the dominant force in the local pearling industry at its peak around the turn of the 20th century.

Revered for their brilliant luster and luminosity, Gulf pearls were a particular hit with the aristocratic and emerging middle classes of Europe and the US. Along with its neighbors and fierce rivals Bahrain and some parts of the Trucial States (which encompass today’s UAE), Qatar rose to the increasing global demand, with 48% of its 27,000-strong population in 1907 (or nearly all men) employed in pearling.

Half a century later, however, it was all over, with the political resident (the chief British representative in the Gulf) writing in 1958: “For the first time in very many years no pearling boat left Doha harbor, and the hulks of what used to be a considerable fleet lie rotting on the coast.”

The arrival of oil was just one of multiple factors that led to the swift and crushing demise of the Gulf pearling industry. But while many physical remnants of Qatar’s pearling past have since succumbed to the bulldozers, this rich heritage remains woven into the fabric of the nation.

Scratch the surface of Qatar today, and references to its pearling past are ever-present, from public art – notably the Pearl Monument at the entrance to Doha’s Dhow Harbour depicting a giant, pearl-bearing oyster – to modern architecture including The Pearl-Qatar, a glitzy residential and lifestyle development built on a former pearling bed.

Keen-eyed commuters will also note the pearlescent tiles featured throughout Doha’s metro stations.

Visitors can still shop for rare (and eye-wateringly expensive) Gulf pearls at The Old Pearl Diver boutique in Doha’s Souq Waqif run by octogenarian Saad Ismail Al Jassem, who claims to be one of Qatar’s last commercial pearl divers.

Risky lives

And while commercial pearl diving has yet to enter a renaissance in Qatar as it has in Bahrain and the UAE, the nation continues to revive its pearling heritage at annual festivals including the Senyar Festival, which includes a pearl diving contest, and the Katara Traditional Dhow Festival, marked by a program of maritime displays and traditional activities.

Offering similarly evocative insights throughout the year are Qatar’s museums including Doha’s National Museum of Qatar, where the immersive film “Nafas” (Breathe) by Mira Nair brings the hardships of pearling to life.

In the nation’s northwest, a small pearling display at Al Zubarah Fort, which sits astride the ruins of a former pearling port (now publicly accessible via a boardwalk opened in November 2022) offers another intriguing taste of life in Qatar’s coastal pearling communities.

While the tujar (richest pearl merchants) and sheiks who controlled the pearling fleets accumulated great wealth from the trade, life for ghasa (pearl divers), who would spend more than four months of each summer at sea, was “pretty grim”, says Robert Carter, senior archaeology Specialist at Qatar Museums and author of “Sea of Pearls: Arabia, Persia, and the Industry That Shaped the Gulf.”

“They didn’t have much to eat except rice, fish and maybe a bit of bread, so scurvy was a problem,” Carter explains. “Water was strictly rationed, so they would have to wash in the sea; and they were damp all the time, so they got horrible fungal diseases.”

Carter also notes accounts of divers, who typically made 50-60 dives per day,getting stung by rays and eaten by sharks.

When divers – weighed down by a rock – had collected around 20 oysters, they would tug on a rope to be pulled back up to the surface by a siyub (rope hauler). Any pearls found in the mollusks were graded and kept under lock and key on the dhow (pearling boat), with the opened shells either tossed back into the sea or kept to sell as mother-of-pearl. A member of the crew caught attempting to conceal a pearl, according to the late Australian mariner and writer Alan Villiers, would risk being beaten to death.

“The profits were shared among the crew, so stealing a pearl would mean breaking an enormous bond of trust,” explains Carter. A decent payday was never guaranteed anyway, with lackluster seasons often leaving divers, haulers, and even dhow captains without the means to support their families through to the next season. Slaves, meanwhile, were required to hand over their share to their masters.

Desert relics

The pearling industry historically had complex labor practices. At its peak it is estimated that a significant portion of pearl divers were enslaved. Despite the 1807 abolition of slavery in the British Empire, slavery was permitted to continue in Qatar for nearly four decades after the region became a British Protectorate in 1916.

Part of central Doha’s Msheireb Museums, Bin Jelmood House – the former home of a slave trader – documents Qatar’s slavery history, with displays touching on the role of slavery in the pearling industry.

Among the more mysterious links to Qatar’s pearling past are some physically etched into its desert landscape. Near the dreamy turquoise beaches of Fuwairit, one of many abandoned pearling settlements in remote northern Qatar, the publicly accessible rock carvings of Al Jassasiya – thought to be up to 250 years old – clearly depict, among other things, pearling dhows with oars sticking out from mandorla-shaped hulls like legs on an insect.

The shifting sands of the Qatari desert continue to reveal clues about Qatar’s pearling history, including the 2022 discovery of a Neolithic pearl bead by Qatar Museums’ head of excavation and site management, Ferhan Sakal – thought to be the oldest pearl uncovered in Qatar.

There are likely many more treasures waiting to be uncovered, yet the evidence already tells us, Carter says, that the pearling industry played a much more pivotal role in Qatar’s story than it is often given credit for.

“There would likely be nobody here except for the Bedouin if it wasn’t for the pearl fishery,” Carter says.

A flock of grazing sheep is helping archaeologists to preserve the ancient ruins of Pompeii, the Roman city that was buried under meters of pumice and ash in the calamitous eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79.

Archaeologists have uncovered only around two thirds of the 66-hectare (163 acres) site at Pompeii since excavations began 250 years ago.

Preserving the unexplored sections of the ancient city against erosion by nature and time is a priority for those who manage the site.

“If grass and other plants grow in or on the ancient walls and houses this is a problem. So we try to have a sustainable approach to the whole environment in order also to avoid using substances then to avoid growing plants, having plants growing on the walls and ruins,” said Gabriel Zuchtriegel, the director of the Pompeii Archaeological Park.

The flock of 150 sheep has been deployed to Regio V, a northern section of the city, where grassy hills are dotted with the ruined remains of ancient houses and shops.

Regio V is still off limits to the millions of visitors who come to Pompeii each year, but as part of its conservation efforts the archaeology park has in recent years launched new excavations at the site.

Among the striking discoveries since 2018 were vibrant frescoes, a snack shop and the skeletal remains of people killed in the eruption.

Zuchtriegel said the sheep initiative does not contribute to efforts of reducing carbon emissions, but helps to save money and preserve the landscape.

“It’s also something which really gives an idea of how Pompeii was in the time when it was rediscovered. It was woods, vineyards, sheep and it was this kind of rural environment and in the midst of that you had Pompeii.”